• Fear Garden

    (Kyouf Gaaden: Original Song by Rin Kagamine)

    They say that I plant hands in my garden. Yes, hands. You have not heard me wrong. I know the thought that’s going through your brain right now. This girl is insane. Who would plant hands in their garden? You believe that every word that I speak to you now is all lies…or is it? I don’t even know myself now, what is true and what is false. But that isn’t going to be of any consequence to you, once you hear my story, the story of a young teenage girl who lives in Kyoto, Japan. Don’t back away when you feel the chills going down your spine or that tingling sensation filling your head, because you too, have entered the place known as the Fear Garden of Rin Kagamine.
    “Rin, are you home yet?”
    I quickly opened up the kitchen cabinet above my head and threw in the soil pot that I had been admiring. “Yes!” I called out, sitting myself down at the kitchen table and placing my folded hands on my lab, smiling angelically as I waited for the back door to open. In less than a few seconds, it swung open with a loud creak and Len jogged in, his spiky blonde hair whipping around his face as he gazed intently around the kitchen, as if looking for something out of the ordinary. Of course, I had made sure that he wouldn’t find anything. All he’d see when he got home from his musical rehearsals would be his twin sister waiting for him. He would have been very profound to even have the thought cross his mind that his older sister could be capable of what I was secretly doing behind his back. “How was rehearsal?” I asked, sipping a cup of tea.
    “The usual.” Len replied, taking off his shoes and pulling up a chair beside me. “Everyone’s rather tense for the upcoming performance tonight though.” He than looked at me carefully, his bright blue eyes penetrating right through my skull. “Why did you drop out anyway?”
    “I told you already.” I sighed, doing my best to be exasperated. “It’s only the two of us that are taking care of the household most of the time, with mother and father off who knows where. I don’t feel safe with leaving the house vacant for so long.” It was an acceptable excuse, and in my opinion, one that made sense. After all, I couldn’t tell him the real reason that I stayed home by myself those quiet, long three hours. And of course, Len fell for it. He nodded, absentmindedly. “Yeah yeah…I get it. Hey, you are coming tonight aren’t you?”
    “Well of course!” I exclaimed. “I plan to enjoy myself a lot tonight.” I placed a slight emphasis on those two words, though I doubt he’d catch my meaning. What did he know about my true intentions?
    Len nodded and gazed at the kitchen clock that hung on the wall. “I’m leaving in an hour to help set up. Performance is at seven.” With that, he stood up and slid in his chair. “I’ll be in my room getting ready if you need me.” Without waiting for a reply, he turned away and walked down the hallway, hands stuffed in his pocket, whistling like nothing in the world bothered him. The minute he turned away, the twisted smile that I had sought to contain spread like a flower across my face. I resisted the urge to chuckle, and instead directed my attention to the clock that hung above my head, waiting for the minute hand to move to tick off each second of the hour of doom. You might think that I grew very impatient, those sixty minutes, but I was not. No, on the contrary, I was quite enjoying this wait. Let my brother and my friends savor these minutes. I thought to myself. After all, the time is approaching.
    Finally, at long last, the minute hand reached twelve for the final time, and from the floor above, I heard a thumping noise as my brother ran down the stairs, dressed in a sailor outfit for the play. “I’m off!” He called hurriedly as he rushed across the kitchen, though he didn’t bother looking at me, before throwing the back door open and plunging out into the cold winter air. “Don’t forget to come to the show!” The door flew shut, cloaking the kitchen in the cape of night. Before I could stop myself, a low chuckle formed at the base of my throat, and my skinny frame shook. Than, a full laugh emerged from somewhere deep within me and I threw my head back, laughing that terrible laugh that sounded both sweet and devious at the same time. I was still quaking with laughter a few minutes later, and so enveloped was I that I forgot what I was going to do that would cause me such pleasure. I threw open the back door myself and ran off into our backyard. I didn’t bother looking around for Len, he wouldn’t be around anyway, I knew that. Hurtling over the fence that separated our yard from the woods behind, I crashed into the trees, running at a high speed. Seconds later, I emerged in a clearing lit by the moonlight. Save for a few weeds, the clearing was empty, devoid of any plant life of any sort…for now. But I knew, without hesitation, once the night was over, I’d have my flowers, but not flowers of the regular sort. Oh no, I wouldn’t be pleased with just that. Placing my hand in my pocket to make sure what I wanted was still there, I ran off, this time headed for Seiyuu High, the school that I attended. As I made my twists and turns around the alleys, I kept my eyes open for a certain person, knowing that I’d find her somewhere in these alleys. It didn’t take long to find her, walking slowly all by herself on a dark, uninhabited street.
    “Miku!” I called out from behind her, still keeping my hand in my pocket. “Hey, Miku!”
    The girl in front of me jolted, but than turned around, her blue hair creating a tornado around her. She relaxed immediately when she saw me. “Rin!” She smiled warmly. “Off to see the performance?”
    I nodded. “Yes, I wish you well in it.” As I said those words, I slid my hand out from behind my pocket, still holding the object, and hid it behind my back in such a fluid moment that no one, even the person with the sharpest eyes, could have seen it. Miku certainly didn’t. She laughed, carefree as usual. “Yeah, I hope I don’t mess up anywhere.”
    “I’m sure you won’t…” I said in a voice slick with honey. At that moment, I pulled my hand out from behind my back, the knife I held glittering. “Because you won’t be going to the performance!” I was on her before she could even react, watching as blood splattered everywhere down her side. The last thing I saw before I grabbed what I wanted and ran away was Miku’s empty blue eyes gazing lifelessly at me. One down, five to go, I thought, humming to myself. I placed the arm that I had taken into the bag that I carried and wiped all the blood off from my being and the knife before placing it once again in my pocket. I made a few turns down the streets and suddenly found myself on a brightly lit street with shops lining every side. I slid carefully into one of them, a bar, and without so much as a breath, I darted through the building and shoved open the door to the rooftop, for I knew he’d be there. I let my control die away than. So what if he heard me? He would never tell anyone. Making it to the top of the stairwell, I shoved open the metal door there and stepped out once again, into the cold night air and the bar rooftop. Kaito stood there, near the railing, twirling a broom in his hand and staring off into the distance. He must have heard my loud footsteps on the stairwell for he turned around. “Rin…” He muttered disapprovingly. “Just because I work here and you are my friend doesn’t give you the right to barge in and interrupt my job.” He waited for my response and when I simply continued walking towards him, Kaito tipped his head. “Is something wrong? You’re not…” His eyes widened with fear when I gazed straight into those dark eyes of his and I raised my knife right to his face.
    “Oh, nothing’s wrong with me Kaito.” I muttered sweetly. I pressed the sharp point of the weapon right up to his cheek and let it slide slowly down, creating a streak of blood. “But as for you? Oh, I can’t be too sure.” Without a warning, I grabbed his throat-he couldn’t scream or else I’d be caught-and effortlessly slit it. His fresh blood oozed down my hand slowly, but I didn’t mind. Once again, I cut off both his arms, put them in my sack, and threw the rest of his mangled and twisted body over the railing into the street two stories below.
    You must be truly horrified by now, aren’t you? I would most certainly love to continue telling you in depth what happened that night, as I slew four more people that I called friends, but there’s not that much time for me left, so I’ll leave it at that. However, before we depart, I will tell you what did happen after my mass murder spree.
    The house was dark, cold, and silent when I entered through the kitchen door nearly three hours later. The first thing I saw was Len sitting in his seat, hands folded, a gloomy look on his face. “What’s wrong?” I asked, even though I knew what his answer was going to be.
    He stared at me, standing in the moonlight eerily, my silhouette reflecting in the light. “No one but me came. Everyone vanished.”
    “I know where they are.” I admitted shamelessly. “You don’t have to worry about them, I know where they are.”
    “You do?” Len immediately jumped up. “Where?”
    “Well…you’ll soon find out once you join them, won’t you?” I asked, gazing at him before the gleaming knife came out.

    So, there you have it, and now, I must go. To where, I don’t know, and I also don’t know what will become of me. However, if you’re still wondering whether what I’ve told you is the truth or a lie, than listen carefully. I have two pieces of evidence that you can find easily to help you come to your conclusion. The first one is that if you should ever go to Seiyuu High School, you’ll find Miku, Kaito, Len and everyone else who fell victim to me that very night, long ago. They’re still there, perfectly unharmed. Now you must be thinking that I’m a great storyteller, no? Well, I still haven’t told you the second piece of evidence. Go to my house-you’ll find it-and look in one of the kitchen cabinets. You’ll know which one it is, because it has a hand sticking out of a pot of top soil…and the bloodied cuff of a boy’s sailor uniform…and if you listen carefully, you can still hear the laughter…the laughter of a young girl…