Hi readers! Merry early Christmas! I posted one day late again, I know ;-; don't be mad with me I try. Anyways, here is one of my favorite chapters. I had a lot of fun writing this one and I hope you like it! Happy holidays and stay tuned for a Christmas present!
Warning: More gore and graphic descriptions!

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Waking up at a good time, I guessed that by the time I got dressed and ready, I would be able to go to Dominic's house. I had called Alexandra the night before, (luckily Maiko still kept their house phone number) and explained briefly what happened with Dominic a few days earlier at school.

Turned out that Alexandra wrote some sort of confession or love letter to him and gave it to him. Dominic hadn't exactly reacted well when she told him face-to-face and gave the letter to him. That's all I could get out of her without upsetting her too much. That was enough, nevertheless, to anger me.

Alexandra and Rosalina were sweet girls and though I had my suspicions about them, they seemed normal enough. But hearing that that jerk Dominic hurt Alexandra just made me wonder: why would he do that? By the way it sounded, he totally rejected her without even sugarcoating it.

Though I was mad, I knew I had to maintain a calm demeanor with Dominic. Clad in a light blue dress, I creeped out of the apartment complex. I didn't exactly want Maiko or Akito asking me where I was going.

I strolled around town, remembering what I went through and passed when I heard Dominic playing the day before. As I walked on the sidewalk, I carefully considered what I would say first and how the conversation would go. It would be simple and straightforward but smooth and mature.

I knocked on the door, hoping this was the right one. The houses here were similar but I trusted my memory by the position of the window.

Stepping back, a young lady answered the door with a duster in her hand. She seemed about Rin's age, maybe even older. She did have eyes similar to Dominic's. “Hello. Can I help you?” She offered. I bowed in greeting, “Hello, is-um-”

“Who’s at the door, Kira?” An older voice called from a distance. The girl turned around, “Oh, mom. It's a girl.” She answered. An older woman with her hair in a bun and a plain brown dress came next to Kira. “Oh, hello, miss. May we help you?”

I nodded, “Good morning, Ma’am.” I bowed respectfully, almost forgetting my manners. “My name is Ritsuko Akiyama and I was just wondering if Dominic Hoshida is here.”

“You’ve come to the right place.” Kira pulled her shoulder length chestnut hair behind her ear and beamed at me. I smiled in satisfaction. The woman nodded and patted the girl on the back, “Kira, call your brother over for me.” She looked at me and examined my appearance.

Kira left me and the older woman alone. I assumed the lady was Dominic’s mother. “So...how do you know my son, Ms. Akiyama?” I replied, “He is one of my classmates at high school. I’m a newer student so I just wanted to know more about my peers. “ I had hoped I sounded believable, but this woman seemed to see right past me like Dominic often did.

“That's nice to hear. Dominic could use some friends.” Mrs. Hoshida smiled and welcomed me in. I took my shoes off and stepped into the house, smiling back. A tall man sat in a chair in a room where the door was cracked open. It wasn't really hard to put the pieces together and guess he was Dominic's father. He was particularly interested in the television that played some type of news channel. He didn't look like he noticed me.

Kira walked in from a door, “Here he is.” Dominic came up behind her unenthusiastically with his hair a little messy. He wore a dark purple t-shirt with some black pants. “So-” he paused. “Ritsuko?! What are you doing here?”

“Hey, Dominic.” I waved innocently. Kira looked at Dominic and said, “She said she knows you from school. She wanted to talk to you.” Dominic looked at his sister as if she was crazy. I knew what he thought, and it was kind of funny to see him like this. “Why are you here?”

Mrs. Hoshida sighed, “Now Dominic, don't be like that.” Dominic glared at Kira, who found this amusing to watch. He whispered something to her but she only snickered. “Dominic, why don't you go show Ms. Akiyama around the house while Mom and I go clean up the kitchen? Show her your weird nonsense books or something.”

Dominic kept his blowing frustration in and gave Kira another look. “Okay.” Mrs. Hoshida grinned at him as he walked away through a door. I followed as Kira smiled at me, “Don't worry, he’s just bad with welcoming visitors.” She winked. I nodded as I followed Dominic into a room.

He shut the door behind me and paced forward. “What a family you have.” I began, “They're so warm and friendly and welcoming. You obviously didn't take up that trait from your mother.”

“Why are you here, Ritsuko?” He repeated, sitting down beside his piano. I gave him an innocent look, “What? Am I not allowed to come to your house or visit you?” Dominic rolled his eyes. “What do you want?”

I sat down at the chair nearest me and crossed my legs. “Nothing. I just want to talk.” Dominic raised an eyebrow, “Talk about what, Ms. Akiyama?” He had a good knack for hiding his feelings and playing it cool, but I could play that game just as well.

“I think you could guess what just fine, Mr. Hoshida.” He chuckled. “I guess I could.” He played random keys on the piano. I leaned forward, “Do you like playing piano?”

Dominic looked at me, a little bit surprised. “How did you know I played?” I answered plainly, “I heard you yesterday. Maiko, Akito and I were passing by this place. That's how I guessed this was your house.”

Dominic scoffed, “And my big sister just had to let you in, of course.” I frowned, “I’m not a rodent either, Dominic.”

“But you are a pest that often gets on my nerves.” I gave him a sarcastic smile. “The feeling is mutual.” I said caustically. Dominic smirked at me and eyed the piano keys. “You obviously didn't come over just to talk to me about my great piano playing. So let's be straight with each other and tell me why you're here. Unless you just came to waste my time.”

I remarked, “Actually, I decided to give you a bit of my time to actually talk to you in private. Use that time wisely.” Dominic looked at the door then to me, “I feel like this might take a while...here, why don't you get something to drink and we can talk in my lab?”

A few minutes later, I was holding an orange juice in hand and in a downstairs makeshift lab where Dominic said he “worked.” It was actually pretty nifty for a non professional science lab. I didn't know what half of the things that were in there. Most of them were multicolored chemicals in beakers and machines like centrifuges or microscopes or tweezers. He had a lot of syringes though.

“Don't touch anything that is on these tables.” He instructed, sitting down in a chair and putting a lab coat on. “I believe I can trust you to do that, right? We're not little kids.” I groaned, “Why are you always so condescending?”

Dominic took a dropper and nodded, “It’s just because I don't want to be responsible for any incidents. If you're here, it means I trust you well enough to behave.” I walked around, checking out the things on the tables. “Well it is nice to know that you trust me.”

“So what is it you wanted to talk about?” He questioned, concentrating on some kind of work with his beakers. Something caught my attention, though. A little jar containing a dried up Flower of Despair was at the edge of the front table where he worked. I also noted that a petal was ripped off. I wondered why it would be here.

“What is that?” I asked, reaching to it. Dominic caught my hand right before I picked it up and pulled it back, “Don't touch that!” I jumped, startled at the volume of his voice. I took my hand back and looked at him as he hissed, “I said not to touch or grab things in here. Especially not that thing.” I apologized, “I forgot, sorry.”

I asked, out of the blue, “Why would you have that thing in there? Do you experiment with those Flowers?” He sighed, “I would care to not explain right now. You wanted to talk to me about something important, right?”

I had never emphasized that it was important but didn't correct him. “Alexandra asked where she could find you at school on Friday.” I started. Dominic tensed up slightly. “And?” He asked.

“When she came back to class she wasn't that talkative. She looked pretty upset.” Dominic gave me a quick glance and asked, “How are you involved with any of this?”

“Let me finish, please.” I demanded. Dominic tapped his dropper on the table and stuck it into a beaker, “Right.” I continued, “You hurt Alexandra, and I want to know why.”

Dominic furrowed his eyebrows, “Why do you need to know anything that happened between me and her?” I quipped, “Because she’s my friend, and you should treat her better than that. I mean, couldn't you at least say something nice and then tell her that you're not interested in her that way?”

“This is none of your business.” I stated, “Yes it is.” Dominic glared at me, “Listen, you have this story all mixed up. That means that you weren't involved in the first place.” I crossed my arms, “I heard it from Alexandra.”

“Really?” I nodded, “Yes. And it doesn't sound like you were very kind to her.” He turned his chair to me, “Okay, what would you want me to do? It's not like you know what she told me.” I got up from my chair, “Yes, I do. I just want to know why you would do something like that. I expected you to be a little more polite.”

He slammed his hand in the table and stood up, marching up to me, his height towering over me. For some reason, I whimpered a bit and took a few steps backward.

“You want to know what really happened?” He asked in a low voice. I remained silent, trying to keep eye contact with him, though it was hard since his sharp look at me was highly intimidating. “Alexandra did tell me that she liked me, yes. And I did tell her I didn't feel the same way, but I was only protecting her and me from getting hurt.”

My expression softened a little. What would he be protecting her from? “What do you mean?” He chuckled, “Oh, of all people, I think you, Ritsuko, would actually know.” I looked down, trying to figure out what he meant. It suddenly came up to me, like a light bulb turning on.

“Her curse…” I murmured to myself, looking up at him. “Not only hers, but mine too.” He pulled the left sleeve on his shirt up to reveal the mark of the Flower of Despair on his shoulder. I gasped, covering my mouth and stepping back. It wasn't the big reveal of his curse that brought me to shock, but the realization of his curse.

He sighed, “Of course, you're surprised. I hid that secret well, didn't I? Well, it was only because I didn't let it affect my life so much.” I looked up at him and questioned, “How did it happen? When did it happen?” He shrugged and turned to his chair. “I don't know. I was a kid.”

“I thought that story was a legend or myth of some kind. Scientists didn't prove the Flower’s scientific ability to curse, none of the sources or books I had proved anything.” I concluded, “So you got one to prove it was a myth.” Dominic slowly nodded, “Then, next thing I knew, I was in this lab with the Flower on the table, covered in the red substance of that thing.”

“Then what did you do?” Dominic looked thoughtful, “It’s strange how the curse does just appear like that, but you realize it instantly. It's like a bad dream or something.” I gasped, realizing I had held my breath then I looked at him right in the eye. “You can't be in a relationship, can you?”

He shook his head, sitting back down. “Not in any romantic relationship whatsoever.” He said quietly. My eyes widened in surprise that I actually guessed his curse. “Why not?” I asked, slightly desperate.

He looked at me, “Do you think I know? All I know is that I couldn't ever work it out with Alexandra because of my curse. I couldn't hurt her like that. I care too much to end up hurting her. It's not like she didn't know. She was completely aware of this before.”

“Why would she ask you then?” I inquired. “Maybe she thought we could find a way to work. But…” he took in a deep breath and sighed, “It’s impossible for me. It’ll just end up worse.”

I shook my head, “That's horrible!” Dominic sighed, “I know, I know. I’ve heard it all. But there’s no helping that, unless that thing about a magical healer is also true.” I looked at my own hands, thinking that I could heal him. “A Despair Healer.”

“I don't know, I think that's what it's called. Besides, like I said before, I don't let it affect me. Love is overrated anyway. I have my lab and my studies,” he gestured at his table of experiments and chemicals. “So you want to be healed?” I asked. Dominic folded his arms and looked down, “Yes. Just because I don't let it change my whole life, doesn't mean I’m not desperate to be healed. Because then, if I wasn't cursed, I could have a girlfriend.” The way he looked told me he was thinking of Alexandra.

If only he knew that he was talking to a Despair Healer. Then I went on to think another thing. If I healed him right now, I could heal Alexandra too. It would be like killing two birds with one stone! I would also be solving a relationship problem with them.

I then knew what I had to do. I lifted my head bravely, looking hard at Dominic who was tinkering with his chemicals again. “Dominic.” I demanded. He turned his chair to me, “What?” I took a deep breath and got ready to tell him. Stepping up next to his desk, I put my hand on the table.

“Dominic, I am-” a door opening made me stop my sentence. Kira popped out from the staircase going up and waved, “Hi, I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Dominic shrugged, “Not really.” Internally, I wanted to send Kira out, but I maintained a relaxed expression. “Oh good. Mom is just wondering where the screwdriver is.”

He searched his table and grabbed it from next to a box of junk and old machines. “Yes, here it is.” He handed it to her. Kira smiled, “Thanks. Dad needs it real quick.” She ran up the stairs calling to her parents.

“Sorry for that. Anyways, what was it you were saying?” He looked at me. It suddenly seemed a little weird of me to say what I was going to say now. “You know what, it’s not that important anymore.” But it was! I told myself.

Dominic relaxed and nodded, “Alright.” I excused, “I ought to get going now anyways. Thank you for showing me your house and this lab. I think it’s really cool.” He smiled, “Thanks.”

I leaned in and said in a low voice, “I won't tell anyone about this if you don't want.” Dominic nodded slowly, “Okay. You were never at this house.” He joked.

I chuckled and turned around, tipping something over. I gasped, spinning and holding whatever I knocked over, with my telekinesis. Once I realized this, I quickly grabbed the cup and pretended I didn't use my powers. Dominic didn't notice this, but whatever was in the cup spilled on my arm a bit.

“Oh my gosh!” Dominic's eyes widened. “What?!” I asked urgently. He covered his mouth, “That's sulfuric acid!! Ritsuko get it off!” My eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and I screamed in terror. I set the cup on the table and panicked. “What do I do?! What do I do?!!” I shrieked, starting to feel it burn.

Dominic looked at me curiously for a second and burst out laughing. I looked at him in fear, “What the heck are you laughing for, help me!!” He laughed even harder at this and I got angry. “What's funny about this?!” He covered his mouth, trying to stop himself laughing.

Finally, he stopped and sighed, looking at me, “Ritsuko, I was kidding.” He chuckled. “What?!” Dominic pushed his glasses up his face and laughed, “That was just your juice, I was just kidding.”

I suddenly felt embarrassed for falling for his trick. I licked the juice on my fingers, it was orange juice!! “Huh?! But-But, you scared me!!” I screamed, my voice going two pitches higher than usual. Dominic giggled and chuckled, “I’m sorry, I-I just had to.” He sniffled, wiping his eyes from laughter.

“That wasn't funny.” I said with a bit of a chuckle. That was a little funny, I had to admit. “Okay, maybe it was a little funny, but that still scared me.” Dominic stood up, “See?” I looked around and asked, “Do you have any rags here?”

He shook his head, “I’ll clean it up. You can leave now if you want.”

“Oh, thank you.” I walked up the stairs. “So I’ll see you in class tomorrow?” Dominic nodded, “I guess so.”

I smiled, happy that I got to know him a little better. “Okay then!” I went upstairs and was let out by Mrs. Hoshida. I thanked her for the hospitality and went on my way back to the apartments.

When I went to bed that day, I felt a little bit relieved. Finally, things were falling into place for me. It was all going to work out. Of course, something stopped me from celebrating: Akito.

Akito and I had become closer each day and I enjoyed it. Though he had distracted me from what my mission was, he made up for it somehow. I began to care deeply for him.

It was silly to say, but I sort of felt like Dominic and how he wanted to be with Alexandra. His curse could be healed, but my purpose would never end until I died. At least he had hope, but I was the only thing giving him hope. That's why I realized Akito and I could never be more than friends.

I’d have to move away soon after I completed my mission, and I’d be healing other desperate, sad people. I had to look forward to that. That was my purpose, after all. And even though I had fallen for Akito, I had to stay strong.

I had a fairly peaceful sleep until I woke up to the sounds of police car sirens and loud voices chattering. There was some screaming and yelling going around too. I sat up in my bed and gasped, “What happened?”

My curiosity got the best of me and I got in a small light robe over my pajamas, putting on some slippers and stepping out.

“Where is she?” I heard a woman yell from outside. I gasped, running down the stairs and rushing out the door. I turned the corner and saw a big crowd gathering by a nearby house. I jogged toward the crowd, hearing some people come up behind me.

Akito and Maiko came by my sides in their pajamas too. “What happened out here?” Maiko said with her voice chilled. I wiped my eyes, “I don't know, I just woke up.”

Mr. Tanaka came up behind us, “Akito, Maiko, you two stay here.”

“What?” Akito asked. I stepped ahead, walking through the crowd. A bunch of people gasped in shock or ran away. They pushed me away too far that I couldn't see what they were looking at. Mr. Tanaka went to a police officer and began asking questions. “Here, let’s go.” Maiko took me and Akito toward the crowd.

“Wait, Maiko! But Dad said to stay here.” Maiko didn't listen and instead pulled us through the crowd. We ran, trying to keep up until we stopped in front of a police line. There was a small brown house in front of the police line, the door broken open. A police officer walked through the house, the door inside revealing blood smeared all over it.

We all gasped in shock. “What the heck?” Akito asked. Maiko pondered, “But wait, this is an unsold house!” She looked at the side. I asked her, “Then why is there blood on the door?”

I ran toward the side, leaving the crowd. Maiko and Akito came up behind me. I looked through the window slowly, afraid of what I would see. I immediately knew why I was afraid.

Blood was splattered and spilled all over the floor and the walls. Police shone their flashlights over the multiple stains of blood and a piece of cloth stained.

What they pointed at next left me terrified. The police flashlights shone over a dead body covered in blood, her chest slashed open and arm ripped off. Her eyes were still open, which was traumatizing to watch. I recognized those eyes though, and the form of her body.

Wait a second, that was Emily from my high school class! She was slaughtered to death like this?! I yelped and jumped back from the window, seeing enough of that image. Maiko and Akito took a quick look but stepped away from the view as quickly as they looked.

“Wait, that-that” Akito interrupted Maiko, “That's Emily….” I whimpered, “How could that happen?” Maiko looked at the window again, as if not believing what she saw. “Most important; who would do such a thing?!”

Akito and I both were in complete bewilderment. I tried to speak, but I was at a loss for words. A woman and man’s screaming and yelling caught our attention and we all gathered around the window. The woman fought against an officer's hold, pleading, “Please, no! Let me go! That's my daughter!!”

The man yelled at an officer to let them pass, and one finally lifted the police line to let them through. The woman ran in through the door and gasped, covering her mouth. These people were clearly Emily's parents.

The man came through and froze at the sight of the dead body that was once Emily. The lady whimpered, trying to say something but crying over her own words. The woman dropped to her knees and began sobbing, the man sitting down by her side and holding her close.

Akito pulled me and Maiko from the window, “Guys, let's go.” None of us even thought of arguing with him. Maiko asked again in a small voice, “Who would do this?”

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Whoaaaaa different ending than ya expected huh? Not so nice in these chapters, now? Someone's actually dead! What now? What is the answer to Maiko's question? Who do you think would kill Emily? Find out! Thanks for reading and merry early Christmas! 💜