2 Chapter 1: Bad Day

It was night time. Amidst the growing darkness, the moonlight illuminated a path leading to a grand mansion. It was a huge, well-designed and yet, empty.

Footsteps sounded, and a girl stood in front of the mansion's door. Lost in thoughts, she absentmindedly touched the dirty doorknob. Only after a few minutes had passed, did she break off her gaze and heave a sigh.

"Why am I even here? Even though there's nothing here, I still lurk around. Stupid heart, stop hoping already." Her voice rang out in the silence.

A swish of hair, few footsteps, and the girl was no longer there. But unknown to her, she left something on the doorstep.

A gold earring shone on the floor, almost hidden under the dust. Little did she know that it would never be found again.

Back to Rudson street.

The same girl from before had a big, hardcover novel in her pale, freckled hands. She slowly flipped through the pages, careful not to crease the pages. Her thick glasses stood out on her small face and reflected the book's pages.

Her concentration didn't break, even though she was walking while reading.

A mosquito buzzed around her ear, making her swat at it. It was at this point that her hand trailed to her ear, a habit she had picked up, wanting to tug at her earring. She came to an abrupt stop, realizing that it was missing. Panic rose in her because this piece of jewelry was something very special to her.

The novel dropped from her hand, and she bit her lip to hold back from cursing at her fate. She knelt in the middle of the road to pick up the book.

Before she could comprehend anything else, blinding lights made her eyes close instinctively.

A horn blared, and she finally opened her eyes. A truck was approaching her at a very high speed.

Her last words were "Holy shit."

So much for not cursing.

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A soft wind blew.

Pink, soft petals of cherry blossoms floated mid-air before they slowly touched the ground. Some fell on the girl lying beneath the cherry blossoms tree whose branches were strong and wide. The tree was indeed a sight to behold.

One of the petals fell on the girl's nose, making it tickle. An 'achoo' broke the eerie silence. While rubbing her nose, the girl slowly opened her eyes. Her eyelashes fluttered continuously for a while, squinting as she brushed off the petals that covered her.

"Hmm? Where am I?" She muttered, voice slightly hoarse. "Is this a garden?"

Her body felt tired for some reason, and she stretched to relieve the ache. Her lips parted to yawn, but they remained open when she saw something.

In front of her were two glowing eyes, as red as burning embers, staring right into her.

This was definitely not a garden.

And last she remembered, she was... on the road. So what was this place? Why was she here?

Apart from the tree in the middle, there were no plants visible. Gigantic walls surrounded her and the monster. No matter what she tried to think of, the only word that popped up in her head was 'dungeon'.

The red eyes in front of her had an evil glint in them. It had finally found a prey worth eating. The girl gasped and scrambled back in shock.

"Wha-what is this monster!?" She whispered, her knees shaking.

The eyes belonged to none other than a monster, chained to a wall. The chains were of thick metal that was dull but sturdy. If scrutinized, one could see the scratches caused on the metal by the monster.

Vines were growing on the chains; one even curled on the monster's hair.

The monster had an appearance that one could only describe as horrible. And without a doubt, it was hungry. The drool flowing from its mouth, showed just how desperate it was, to take the girl as its food.

Suddenly energised from the thought of potential food, the monster tugged at the chains. Seeing its movements, the girl panicked and got up. She backed up, only to hit the tree trunk.

A cry of pain left her when she banged her head.

'Creak'

The chains were loosening up.

The girl looked up only to meet a hungry gaze and a smile that made shivers run down her spine.

"What's going on!? Someone... Something..." The girl whispered again, her body too weak to scream.

'Crack'

The chains broke.

A roar resounded throughout the dungeon, and the walls trembled, along with the girl. Her body shook. Never had she ever seen anything monstrous like this in her life, except in video games and movies.

"Oh, God! Why am I having such a bad day?! First, my novel fell, and then truck-kun gave me a fright. And now I'm in a horrible dream. Give me a break already!" The girl whisper screamed, softly banging her head on the trunk.

Another 'roar' came out of the monster's mouth.

Something snapped inside her.

With a change of attitude, the girl looked up again, now annoyed.

"Hey, stop with the roars already, it's getting annoying." Now that she had realized this was just a dream, she didn't feel that scared anymore.

The monster roared again, just as if it was replying to her.

Placing her hands on her waist, she reprimanded it. "Don't you know it's bad manners to shout at someone older than you? I created you; this is my dream. Have some decency, and bow down before me."

Seeing that it stopped roaring, she closed her eyes and gave a smug smile. 'And this, my friends, is how you tame a monster.'

'Hmm?'

She felt hot air surrounding her, and she opened an eye. Right in front of her was a huge mouth, with teeth as sharp as a knife and pink tongue coated with drool. The monster leaped forward, its mouth lunging at the girl's neck.

"Eeek!" The girl's reflexes kicked in, and she narrowly escaped.

'Snap'

Its mouth closed, and the monster looked at her in annoyance, as if asking, 'Why did you move? I finally had the chance to gulp you up.'

"Hah?! Shut it. I value my life; thank you. I ain't playing house with my life on stake. I, Kanae, have more sense than that." She grumbled.

"Anyways, what's with this dream? So weird."

Not listening to her anymore, the monster lunged again. This time, Kanae was a little late, and it managed to tear off a piece of her clothes.

"Holy! Down boy, you're getting too frisky. Someone help!" She called out urgently.