"Pl- Please, n-no more!" The screams ripped from his throat have fallen upon deaf ears. The knife elegantly cuts through the soft flesh, creating a pattern of circles and lines.

"Shhh, now. You're almost done." She- no, it coos. Anyone capable of doing something so inhumane isn't human at all. The monster finishes up quickly, dipping it's paintbrush against the spilling blood. It paints the same patterns on the windows, waiting rather patiently as the light splashes through. It scares him, the room illuminating with scarlet.

And then it begins.

The room actually melts. No, that's not true. It doesn't melt, per say. Wall curls up and falls like layers of skin and flesh scraped from bone. It reveals the exoskeleton of the orphanage, which is being replaced by rust and metal. He screams again, twisting and thrashing in his bonds. Some of the older wounds begin to open again and the sanguine fluid seeps around the cloths holding him in place.

"Stop it!" The monster hisses. "Don't ruin this ritual for me!" It walks up and grips the kitchen knife that lay alone on a table. It's duller and rustier than the blade it had used before. The horror swiftly strides so it's standing behind him, the knife up at his blood soaked throat. He immediately stops. He'd rather die of bleeding than of any disease that thing is carrying.

The adrenaline pumping through his veins is causing his heartbeat to speed up. The combined sound of his breath and heartbeat in his head make it hard for him to hear her chanting something.

Oh god, no no no no no! He wants out now.

It's pouring some weird clear liquid around him in a circle. He doesn't understand why it keeps making these weird circle things. He bites his lip to keep from screaming as it enters his open wounds when the monster pours it over him. He feels like the worst is over now, because said monstrosity is leaving the room.

Throwing his head back, he tries to focus on freeing his hands. He won't struggle so much, because it just doesn't work that way. Instead he tries tugging, hoping the rags come undone. Unfortunately, like everything else in the month he'd been here, it just doesn't happen in his favour. His upper body gives out and his head falls forward again.

The sight of the monstrosity coming back into the room is causing his mind to crack; he can't take anymore torture from this thing. But there's nothing more he can do. He looks up at it with tired, pleading eyes. It seems to spark something inside of it, because the next minute it's crouching in front of him, stroking his face.

"I don't want to have to do this, either." A sigh. "For the good of our family here however it must be done. You are the purest of us all." Pure, hah, yeah right. He's no purer than any filthy whore standing at a street corner. The reason he'd been sent to this place is because his parents had decided he was some sort of demon spawn. He'd heard them talking about how he was "mentally unstable" and "needed people who could help". Tears are threatening to fall from his face, because he feels like they just didn't want the responsibility of caring for him. Obviously sending him off to the Sanatorium, disguised as an "orphanage", was the most they could do.

Unbearable heat causes him to wake up again, looking around. The monster is sitting on a dresser, watching him with the intensity of a hawk. He glances down for the source of the swelter of heat. Fire is licking the edges of the chair, the smell filling his lungs. He can't scream for some reason because no sound will come out. Suddenly, he's completely paralyzed. The last tears fall from his face as the blaze engulfs him.

All the pain stops.

--

"So who is this guy again?"

"Len Kagamine, 14. Had to be identified by dental records. Burnt to a crisp, literally."

"Some people are just incredibly-"

"Outright twisted? Disturbing?"

"Huh? Yeah." Taito looked outside from the coffee shop, watching as people hurriedly rushed by. Maybe if some of them woke up earlier, they wouldn't be so damn late. Kiku stared at him, before sighing and running a hand through her long red hair.

"Something troubling you?" Taito perked, resting his chin in his hand. He shook his head. The redhead snorted.

"You are a horrible liar, my dear friend."

"Kik-"

"Don't "Kiku" me! We've known each other practically forever! I know when you're lying." She slammed her palms against the table, trying to make her point. He didn't so much as stir, only standing and sitting her down again.

"Don't pull out the friend crap right now." Taito said, for once in the day without a hint of amusement in his voice. "We have a serious case of child abuse on our hands right now."

"Tsk." She retorted, clicking her tongue in annoyance. "'Friend crap' aside, this supposed orphanage was a sanatorium before it was converted." Her violet haired friend almost let out a laugh, sneaking a sip from her latte. She frowned, slapping his hands away when he went for another.

"So they have the crazies working this place?"

"Apparently so." Kiku shifted through the sheets in the folder. One of them was a photo of the young boy. She looked it up and down twice. She would never show it, but it hurt her to know someone, let alone a child, would be abandoned by their parents and left in the hands of people unable to even care for themselves. "For a month he was put through hell and died scared and alone." She mused aloud, before covering her mouth with her hand.

"What was that?" Taito snerked.

"I-I said that he was in isolation from the rest of the children for a month." She regained her composure. "Like Solitary Confinement in a prison."

"Any reason given?"

"Rituals leading to this gem of a murder case." She replied. Taito merely nodded, taking their cups and throwing them in the trash before holding the door open.

"Shall we?"

"Of course." She smiled and strided outside to their car. He stared at her as she slid into the drivers' seat, looking through the window.

"What?" She waved him away, annoyed. "Don't be an ass and get in the passengers' seat. I'm driving today." He shook his head and sighed, glancing around at their surroundings before taking the seat next to her.

"Where is this place anyway?"

"Uh, some place called Silent Hill. Located in Maine, not too far from here."

"Sounds lovely." Kiku grinned, tousling his hair. He pulled away, trying to be serious whilst a smile of his own was sneaking onto his face. "I love the fact that you can stay happy like this when we're on a case."

"Do you?" The redhead turned the keys in the ignition, giving her attention to the road. The highway ride would be long and tiring to any normal investigators, but Taito had his ways to both annoy and amuse his friend. At one point they had turned on the radio, listening to the weather. If there was one thing Kiku hated, it was storms. They were useless, and the heavy winds were reason for all of her broken umbrellas that had piled over the years.

'Today seems like it'll be a good day! Sunshi- zzzzshshhhh--------------'

Kiku tapped at the radio in annoyance, trying to get it to tune properly.

"Maybe it's just losing signal? Go to another station."

"I'm not trying to tune it anymore! I'm trying to shut it off, it won't!" She hissed. Taito slammed his fist against the front, earning a groan from the redhead.

"I didn't want you to break it!"

"Too late." Taito grumbled. "But this time it wasn't me. I just finished it off."

"Good job, good job!" Kiku spat and pressed the brakes. The area was enveloped in fog, and to Kiku to thick to even see the bright red of her hair. To both of their annoyances, the radio continued to produce static. As soon as Kiku stepped out of the car, Taito slid into the drivers' seat.

"Uh, Kiku?"

"What?" She snapped.

"The car won't start anymore."

"!!" Kiku pushed him out of the way, twisting the key so harshly it almost broke. Taito moved away, pulling out his phone to dial Akaito.

"Hello?" His redheaded sibling answered.

"Akai- to zzzzzz This is Taizzzzzzzz--!"

"Taizzz?" Akaito replied, coldly. "I don't know anyone by that name, I'm sorry."

"Akaito!" Taito screeched into the phone. "I said 'This is Taito!'"

'Beep, beep- b-ezzzzzzzz'

"Dead phone?" Kiku asked. Taito merely nodded, before throwing the electronic to the ground. "Mine keeps making the same static as the radio."

"Do you have a flashlight or something?" Kiku rummaged around in the glove department. "I'm going into the town to look for someone to help us." The violet haired male laughed. Was she crazy?

"So, we drive into this weirdo town that causes our car, it's radio and our phones to whack out, and you want to go looking through it?"

"Yes."

"This same town that a kid was burned to death?"

"Yes, my dear, because this is our job."

"It's not your job to get yourself killed."

"I said our, smartass. I never said I was going alone."

"Tsh. What makes you think I'm going with you?"

"You can stay here, and get killed in the car or something." She shrugged, hitting the end of the flashlight to see if there were any batteries inside. To her surprise, the flashlight flickered on. "At least something works." She breathed.

Taito held his head in his hands, before looking up. There was no winning with her. He slammed the car door as he moved over towards Kiku, causing her to jump slightly.

"Let's go, then."

--

LONG AND TIRING THIS CHAPTER WAS. Um, yeah. I'm sorry about killing off Len. He might be back or something.