Hollows Eve

When we die...We go to a spiritual place up above, or down below. It's called The Afterlife, and it's a scary place to be. You could either go to a shiny, lovely place filled with the light of the bright sun, a kingdom so holy you'd call it paradise where nothing can hurt you, nothing can make you feel bad, and you'll always be happy. Or You could go to a fiery, burning hellscape, filled to the brim with darkness, torture, screams of anguish, demons on every side leering at you, torturing you by clawing at your skin and seeping they're large, burning bloody monstrous claws into your body as they maliciously laugh at your pain. These are the paths that Death has marked for you, those who have committed the sins of man are condemned to damnation in the fiery pits of inferno, while those who follow the path of righteousness go towards Paradiso in search of love, light, and life. That's what everyone has told us, you either go to a better place or a worse place when you die. When you die though, you take something with you, Not just your soul, but part of you that was vital. Life is very precious, something that should not be wasted, that's what I try to do every single day...ever since my dad died... All of a sudden, I wake up in a dark forest, it's pitch black inside as I can only see the trees that block my vision. I can't even see the road in front of me, this landscape has been familiar to me for the longest time, as I’ve always seen this place...In my nightmares. They've been haunting me for as long as I remember, each time I have them it's a different subliminal dream. But I always see the same thing every single time... A black-cloaked figure with piercing, but empty red eyes that always stare into my soul every time I see it. I awoke and opened my eyes, as I looked to the sky, I could see a full bright moon in the sky, as it was Midnight Blue much like my own hair. My yellow eyes darted around to check where I was, as I was naked on the ground, but all I could see was darkness, blackness, and trees that looked dead but haunting. I continued walking down the pathway, not really knowing what I was doing, or where I was going. I was absolutely terrified, I mean I wouldn't call myself timid, but I was scared, as the nightmares of course never usually end well. As I continued to walk down the path, the sky slowly changed colors, from midnight blue to orange of all colors, to a bloody red. Even the moon's glow changed to a bloody red. The moon's glow only made the atmosphere worse, as I saw that the trees, as well as the path, completely visible now with the darkness slightly removed. Though I could still see and feel the darkness, as I felt completely vulnerable inside of this decrepit landscape. I continued on, grabbing my left arm, still naked, I passed a tree but did not notice that a dark shadowy figure was watching me, as were more of them from behind the trees. They were all watching me with blank red eyes that shined a dark, frightening glow. Around the time I started to notice, I looked at them all from behind the trees, and I started to speed up my walking. As I was even more frightened, in fact, I was so frightened I closed my eyes and started to cry. I was too scared too even look at them, as they had met my gaze with such...hostile and lethal looks. Like they wanted to kill me or rip me apart. I didn't know what was going on, but it didn't stop there as I had been walking for quite a bit, my heart & my body stopped when I saw a figure at the end of the road. It was too dark so I couldn't see who it was initially. I couldn't even make out the details due to the fact that he was covered in the darkness of the forest shadow. But, the figure stepped into the light of the moon's red glow, and I saw him there...He had short midnight blue hair liked me with dark blue eyes...he had the same skin color and everything...In fact...I knew exactly who it was. "...Daddy?" I said, finally uttering a word. I was scared but I knew It was him. My father was standing right in front of me, I was overjoyed but at the same time puzzled. I had no idea why he was here, as I usually never see him in my nightmares. He extended his hand out to me and said "...Come here, midnight bliss." Referring to the nickname he gave me due to our shared Midnight Blue hair. I came to him and hugged him tightly, then I looked up at him with tears in my eyes, and he looked back down at me...Then he said "Kaila...embrace your destiny." I was immediately taken back by what he said, as when he said it his voice changed instantly. Then, right in front of me, his look changed, as he started to transform into the same figure I always see in my nightmares. He had a black, skeletal face with piercing red eyes, a black shining reaper cloak, as well as large black claws. Then right in front of me, He was suddenly pierced by black spikes. This continued to puzzle me as I screamed and yelled at the top of my lungs... "DADDY!" As he was killed right in front of me. After a flash of red gleams over the landscape, He changed back too normal and looked at me, with blood running from his mouth. His deafening look in the pupil of his eyes explained he was once again dying right in front of me... As I continued to watch in horror, just like I did when I was young...The day he died. In that moment I had several flashback images of him getting shot, as well as several images of him dying in my arms, with blood running down his mouth, as well as a large hole in his chest. The same situation I see in front of me...right now...It's coming back to me again...I held my head as I started to panic... "No...not again...Please...don't leave me, dad don't leave me!" He looked at me and smiled, saying "Don't worry...I'm always with you...I promise...". As he said that, more and more of the black creatures started to gather around us, looking down on us with devious smiles. I looked at them all frantically, as they just stood there and stared at me, meeting my eyes with their horrible gaze. I was completely horrified, and once I turned my attention to my father once again...he became the horrible looking figure I saw in my nightmares, as he opened his claw and then raised it and brought it down on me. I screamed with all might as my vision began to turn black, then all of a sudden...I wake up inside my room, breathing heavily in a panic. It was 3:00 at night, and I had just been through another nightmare. Even today It's amazing how I'm still perfectly sane. This might have to do with my mom helping me through these severe nightmares, but I'm still glad I haven't lost my mind. I also still wonder, what do these mean? Are they subliminal messages? Or are they just repressed feelings or memories taking form inside my head? In any case, speak of the devil, because here comes my mom. Oh...by the way. My name is Kaila Amiyuki. I'm a 16-year-old girl in high school. I heard furious running up the steps of the house I live in, as my mom burst into my room in alarm. "Kaila?! Honey is everything okay?" She said to me, still dressed in her robe & pajamas. She came over to me and sat by my bed. "Were you having "Those" dreams again?" she asked me with a comforting tone. "Yeah...but this time...It was completely different. " I said back to her, still scared. "But it's always different; you tell me every time that each experience is different." She says back to me. "Yeah...but this time...I saw dad. " I say to her. The look on her face changed into an expression of minor shock. "Oh...what else did you see?" She asked, even more concerned than before. " I saw...a dark forest, one that changed colors many times, as well as a bunch of monsters, Then I saw dad, and he changed into this ugly, frightening looking grim reaper thing..." I say to my mom, with my voice breaking as I explain to her. She simply stopped my words and gave me a comforting hug. "Ohhh sweetie calm down. It's over now. What have I told you about these things? You should know too take your medicine for this kind of trauma. It stops the nightmares from coming back." She says to me. "No, it doesn't..." I say to her, arguing against her point. "They never stop...And for the longest time, I'm always left wondering...what do they mean?" I continue to talk to her and ask her. Although I don't know why I did, it's not like she knew the answer. "I'm not sure honey...but right now, it's over. These nightmares usually don't come back more than once. I know you're scared, but it's over, for now. So you don't have to keep having them tonight. Do I need to bring your medicine to you?" She said to me. I slowly shook my head and looked down and said, "No...Your right mom." Afterward, I closed my eyes and said "I'll be alright. I promise." Afterward, she simply said for me to go into the bathroom and take my meds, then go right to sleep. After that, I finally dozed off, and mom was correct, the nightmares didn't come back afterward. Although I have to wonder...what did...dad mean? "Embrace your destiny?"... .: HOLLOWS EVE CHAPTER 1 :. It was finally morning time, and the sun had shined down on me, I woke up, rubbed the crud out of my eyes and embraced the morning sunshine like nothing else, as I was actually content with the daytime over the night time. If you were me you would understand why. I got up, changed into my morning school clothes, which consisted of a black shirt with a white collar and a white inside shirt covering my large, plump breasts. It's weird how they are so big and I'm only 16, but I look at myself in the mirror and hold them up slightly. I also tie the orange ribbons into my hair, as I always wear my hair in pigtails. Then I put on my white stockings, black Mary-Janes, and head downstairs. Ready to take on the day, my mom greeted me downstairs "Good Morning Midnight!" She said, also glad that it was a swell morning. "Mom! I thought I told you not to call me that. It's an embarrassing enough nickname as it is." I say in a playful way. Truth be told I've always loved that nickname, others...not so much. Infact my midnight blue hair and "Creepy" yellow eyes are often why I was kind of alone as a child. Other kids would often make fun of me, and because of it, I was so shy. But it's nice to see that at least my mom likes it. "Oh come on honey, you love that nickname. It's the nickname your father gave you, remember?" She says to me making breakfast. "Yeah...I remember." I say with my tone calming down a bit. Though I'll admit, it kinda saddened me a little. It always does whenever I talk about my dad, as he was my whole world. But I'll tell you a little more about him later...Anyways. My mom served me Steamed Rice with Miso Soup, Tamagoyaki, Hourensou No Gomaae, and Tsukemono which is just steamed vegetables. We lived in Kyoto, Japan on the eastern side. It's...not very friendly or nice up here, but we get by as best as we can. I ate the food pretty quickly, as I was supposed to meet my friends before school had started. I immediately rushed out the door after finishing my Tamagoyaki. "Sorry mom! Gotta run! Love you!" And with that, I ran out of the door. "Wait! What about all this food?!..." She said as she watched me leave. She then sighed. "Oh boy...she always does this. Oh...if only you were here Kazu..." She looked at a picture of my dad on the wall with a younger version of me as he held me in his arms. I looked so happy. I continued running down the mountain path as I slid back the doors to our house and closed them. I ran down the mountain steps and into the city streets, running towards my usual meeting spot with my friends. We liked to call the meeting spot, "The Tree of Life". I've had a lot of fond memories with this tree, as this is where I met my very best friend. The one person who's always had my back since day one. As I ran underneath the tree, I came across only two of my friends, Reyabe & Gajenma. Reyabe was a high-school girl like me, except she had brown hair and she has quite the attitude. And Gajenma, well if you got one good look at him you could tell he was a nerd, as he had goggles on his forehead, and purple hair with a red shirt on and a backpack. I met them underneath the tree, and I could see that Reyabe was getting tired of waiting. She checked her flip phone and had an impatient look on her face. "Mmmhhhgg. Where is she?!" She said with great impatience. "Come on Reyabe! We have to wait for her! We can't go to school without her there! Seeing her is the highlight of my day..." Gajenma said, sounding like he was hopelessly in love. Oh, I forgot to mention...he's hopelessly in love with me. Reyabe however quickly spotted me. "There you are!" She said as she ran over and hugged me while shoving Gajenma to the side. Gajenma then fell down on his face afterward, seeing stars like he was on Jupiter or something. I hugged her back and held her hands "Hey Good morning. Nice to be out in the sun again". "What are you Kaila a vampire?" She jokingly said. "Well no I just don't like the nighttime. " I said to her, closing my eyes nervously with a drop of sweat following afterward. We shared a laugh and then Gajenma instantly got up and started going on a tirade. "Kaila-Chan, good morning! Oh, it's so great to see your beautiful face again this bright & early! How was your sleep? Did you dream about me? What did you eat for breakfast? Did you have any nightmares? What were they about? Did you-" And suddenly he was cut off with a chop to his brain by Reyabe. Reyabe was a great martial artist, and I was no slouch either. But I personally think that she was better than me. "Shut it spazoid. We've got to get to school." She said, closing her eyes looking annoyed with a vein mark on her head. Afterwards, we quickly headed off to school, as our high school didn't really have uniforms. I know it's strange, but we were allowed to wear what we please on certain days. Usually, if we did have to wear uniforms, the guys would wear blue & red, while the girls surprisingly wore black & white. Our high school name was Nakayami Junior High. I know it sounds like a middle school, but they also have a high school branch. We went to the high school. As I came inside, walking with my friends, I asked Reyabe "Hey Reyabe? Do you know where Tomomi is?". Tomomi is my best friend, the one I was talking about earlier. He's always been there for me for as long as I can remember. "Haven't seen him at all today. It's strange I know, that guy is always doing his own thing though. Maybe he's back up on the mountain training with his kook of a grandmother." She once again jokes. "I'll never get used to your sense of humor. " I said to her joking back. We then shared a giggle, as Gajenma said too himself in his mind " This is perfect! With Takuro out of the way, I can finally make a move on Kaila!". See what I mean? He's hopeless sometimes. However, as Gajenma was thinking too himself, he bumped into a figure that was taller than him, as three boys looked down at him with mischievous grins. "Hey there Spaz." One of them said who the one in the middle was. That guy's name is Kamina Akujin. Reyabe's brother and the local school bully. He shoved Gajenma away and then he fell over, as Reyabe & I screamed his name in alarm slightly. We stooped down to him and asked if he was okay. He simply raised his thumb and said: "I'm okay..." While seeing stars again. "OH look at that! A spaz who sucks his thumb!" The boys all laughed at him. As I got up and glared at them. Now I wasn't the bravest soul around, but one thing I will not tolerate is when this asshole bullies my friends. So..."What do you want Kamina?" I said to him, with a hint of anger in my voice. "I'm here for you midnight b***h. YOU. ME. REMATCH!" You see, I've beaten Kamina more times than I can count, and he's constantly trying to one-up me. I just sigh and say "Again? Can you not make a scene here? I just wanted to go to class without any screw-ups today. I don't feel like fighting you." I say to him. "Yeah?! Well, I feel like fighting you! And whatever the Kamina wants, the Kamina gets! So let's go!" He says to me. Oh yeah...and he calls himself "The Kamina". I know, he's such a f*****g douche. I just sigh again, as Reyabe tells me in my ear "You gonna teach him a lesson again?". And I respond with "Hell yeah." Kamina then retorts by having his boys pick up Gajenma and hold him by his arms. "Fight me or else your little spaz-cake friend here will become my new punching bag," I swear he is annoying. I just glare at him and then smirk a bit. Kamina then closes his eyes and says "Hmph, I can understand if you're scared, but The Kamina will not take no for an answer, So I suggest you-" With that being said, Me and Reyabe take off from the ground and then kick both his cronies in the face. I then round around and snapback kick him in his face so he can let go of Gajenma. Everyone in the crowd of students started to gather and watch as I began to throw down with Kamina. "OW! Alright b***h! Now it's f*****g on!" He then lunged at me and tried to punch me twice, I just dodge them and then effortlessly blocked his next punch with my left hand, following it up with a snap kick to the jaw on my right, then rounding around and elbowing him in his stomach too knock him down. He then roared in anger at me and then tried right hooking me, I grabbed his fist in mid-air and chopped his neck. "Learn to leave us alone...You stupid PRICK!" I then finished the fight early with a mighty kick that sent him flying into the gate that separated the school from the city, effectively ending the fight. Afterward, the bell rang, and I went inside with my friends as Reyabe scooped up Gajenma and we went off too first period. In class, I was kind of bored. I got good grades in school, but I was never really big on attention span. I honestly wasn't really concerned with what our teacher, Ms. Arubane was talking about. I was more or less concerned with where Tomomi was. As our teacher continued to rant on about the history of old medieval ages, she began talking about ancient figures representing the paranormal, which weirded me out. "So in medieval times, a figure who often caused great mischief & discord in the kingdoms once had his head cut off by the likes of the grim reaper himself. It shows that morality does play a central part in your place in this world, and the world you go too after this. Those who commit crimes however...don't go to hell. Except for those who commit murder, robbery or adultery. This fellow found a way to bend the rules of the Ten Commandments, by playing harmless pranks on people. This leads us into the next part of our religious study-" Suddenly, before Ms. Arubane had time to finish anything she wanted to say, someone finally came in. The person I had been waiting for. "Sorry I'm late Ms. Arubane! Training was rough today. Of course, I also had to walk down a mountain-top, so there's that." He said to her, as Ms. Arubane looked over her shoulder. " Ah yes Tomomi, splendid timing. It is quite alright, just take your seat." Tomomi finally came in. He had perfect baby blue eyes and of course, a smile on his face. I don't know why but for some reason, his smile always bolstered my confidence and gave me strength. But it could just be because he was my best friend. "Thank you, Ms. Arubane!" He then sat down right next to me, as I had a smile on my face. I looked over in his direction and he looked back at me as if he was saying "Hey there Midnight!". He closed his eyes and smiled at me as Ms. Arubane continued to rant on and on. With me not caring, I just smiled back at him. Later on, once the first period was finally over, I was getting something out of my school locker, and Tomomi Approached me as I closed it. "Well Well Well, How's the family Midnight Bliss?" He said as he leaned against the locker. "Tomomi! Where have you been all day?!" I hugged him, as we shared a very close relationship. "Sorry, Training with Grandma Takuro ran really late today. I apologize for the wait. Did anything happen while I was gone?" As he asked me. "Oh the usual. I just put Kamina in his place, Gajenma spazzed out over me, nothing new." Even though I had hidden feelings of complete boredom at the thought of a routine lifestyle, I said what I said with happiness. "Sure enough. Hey, what's with the white rose?" He said as he saw that I had a white rose in my hand. "Oh this?...This is for me to bring to the tree of life later on. I always bring one of these to the tree to honor my father...as that was the place where...he..." Tomomi stopped me by putting a finger to my lips and said "Shhh...Stop Midnight bliss, or else your yellow eyes will turn blue." He joked. I decided to perk myself up again, as his infectious positivity once again bolstered me. After school had ended, we went back to the tree of life, and I placed my rose on the ground. Looking at it for a good minute or two. All 4 of us together, Me, Gajenma, Reyabe & Tomomi then said our prayers and Reyabe & Gajenma then said goodbye. "I hope your still not taking his death too hard Kai?" Reyabe said. "No...I promise you I'm over it. I still have the nightmares though." Gajenma then cupped my hands and said in a frantic manner. “You still do?! Don't worry Kaila! Your knight in shining armor, Gajenma will be there to save you when you need him-" Reyabe knocked him on the head again as he started to rant. "You never learn to shut up do you?" Tomomi just chuckled at this. "Well, I gotta get home before the sun goes down! See you later Kaila!" She said with her voice calling out too me as she started to walk home. "Bye Reyabe! Get home safe!" I said to her, waving goodbye. Gajenma then took my hand, kissed it and said "Goodbye my dear, sweet, beautiful Midnight Bliss. I will miss you dearly! Although you will always be with me!" His eyes started to shine in a weird way... "IN MY DREAMS!" Reyabe quickly then came back and knocked him on the head several times, leaving large lumps, then he started to drag him away. "Goodbye Kaila.." She said sounding annoyed as she was dragging him away, leaving me and Tomomi alone. "Well, I'm sorry I wasn't really here earlier." He said, giving me a nervous smile while also brushing the back of his head with his hand. "It's alright. You can make it up to me by walking me home?" I gave him a chance to make it up to me. And we walked home together, making sure that I got home safe was Tomomi's prime concern, Due to a promise we made too each other long ago. It's a promise I will never forget, as it has helped me stay sane and alive through the hard times growing up. "Well, bye for now Tomomi. Do you promise that you'll be here next time around? Early?" I asked him raising an eyebrow. "Yes I promise. If I can get my kooky old grand mom too stop training me so hard." He chuckled after saying that, and we exchanged goodbyes. As I left to go inside, the fading day had finally changed too night and I was ready for bed. I was fast asleep and within at least an hour...the nightmares began again. But this time it was even stranger as I began to hear a very scraggly old voice calling out too me. Saying... "Kaila...Midnight...awaken...Let me see you...". I opened my eyes, stood up and then looked around my room. Nothing was there. It was even weirder than last night. I decided to go right back to sleep after stretching my arms and yawning, once again closing my eyes. And then...only a few seconds later... "Kaila...wake up...Let me see you...He's watchiiiiiing..." I then open my eyes in a panic and wake up again. As I heard creepy laughing noises coming from down the hall outside my room. "That's right...come to me, Midnight Bliss. Let me see you..." I began to get up and follow the voice down the hall past my mom's room. The voice led me to the bathroom, as I went inside and looked at the moon. The voices had stopped. I then decided that it must've been my warped mind talking to me again. I then turned around to go back to my room, but then I heard a loud thump. Someone was in the room with me...I turned around...and a large man with a pumpkin for a head, a long witch's hat with a pointy, spiky tail for a point, black eyes with yellow pupils, and a long scarf was looking dead at me. "Hello..." He said, he quickly then screamed at me as I also screamed in alarm and fear. He then held up a blue orb in front of my face as Reality began to distort all around me, and I was engulfed in a blue light. And before I knew it...I was gone. My mom came bursting into the room in alarm, hearing the scream. "Kaila?! Kaila honey, are you alright?!" She saw that the window was open, and I was gone with it. As she looked on, she only had a horrified look on her face. After all of that happened, I was thrust into a gateway of hellish imagery. Images of ghastly ghouls, witches, monsters, and demons bombarded me. It was like something out of a horror movie, as some of them tried to bite me and claw at me. I felt like I was falling, falling down a large well, a well that seemed endless...As I continued falling I fell into a large darkness and came out on the other side. And I ended up...in the same forest I see in my dreams. Except for this time, I wasn't naked. I was wearing my normal clothes, except they were changed drastically. The white parts were replaced with a Lighter black, and there were also dark flannel spikes on my shoulders. I was also wearing black stockings with large witch shoes. Also, my pigtails were curled up instead of hanging like regularly. I looked upon the surrounding area in a panicked frenzy, terrified beyond rational thought. But then...I saw him there, the same figure that scared the living daylights out of me in the bathroom. He began walking towards me, coming into the light and revealing himself as the same pumpkin-headed man from before. With his black-yellow eyes, he stared at me with a haunting grin on his face. Even though he had no teeth. The curvature of his mouth spelled "scary" to me. He stopped right near me as I was cowering in fear of him, on the ground scared for my life. What did he want with me? Was this the man that was terrorizing me throughout my life? Was he going to kill me? And what happened in the bathroom? Was I transported to another world? What was going on?...And then...he bowed before me and he spoke to me, in a scraggly voice... "It's a pleasure too finally meet you...Midnight Bliss." He spoke with an Australian accent. I had no idea why. But he continued to speak to me. "My name is Jack...Jack Von Lantern. And we've got a lotta catchin' up to do. You need to come with me. However...I can't promise you'll stay alive if you don't..." He creepily chuckled, as if he wasn't responsible for the fact that If I don't go with him, I'd die here. As He said that, I looked around and saw the same creatures from before staring at me. Their eyes were all a haunting red. "W-w-wait?! Who are you?! What do you want with me?! Please...don't kill me!" I said to him, still cowering in fear. "Oh don't worry now Sheila. I have no reason to kill ya'. But If you don't come with me...THEY will.". He pointed to the monsters behind the trees, as I looked at them with great fear on my face. I looked back up at Jack and he continued to tell me "Now...If you do what I say, I can guarantee you'll still be alive. We could even have...A li'le Bit of..."Fun" so to speak. Heheheh...Now follow me if ya' want to live." He then turned around and started walking down the path towards a faraway castle in the distance. Faced with no other option I walked with him, not knowing what I was doing, or where I was going...It seems my nightmares have somehow become a reality. But I had no other option. Maybe this could lead to the answers I've been looking for...Are these just a dream?...Or...Was this meant to happen? TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 2