Curse

“H…, w…ke up!”

A familiar voice echoed.

“Hey, boy! Wake up now. I can't wait any longer.”

“Who is this? I… recognise this voice.”

Touma's eyes opened, the evening sky shone overhead.

“Hey kid, come on now, let's go.”

“Where to? Huh? My voice is gone… and my throat burns like hell too.”

“You know how long you've been out for? 3 whole hours. Do you know how impatient that made me? Anyways, since you've woken up now, the wait was worth it.”

The man's face wasn't clearly visible due to the light from the sky. There were no sounds in the surroundings, only his voice echoed in the area. 

“Come on now, get on this and let's go now.” 

The man pulled Touma's hand, and helped him sit on something, possibly a chair.

“What is this place? This metallic smell, mixed with blood – all familiar. Huh?! Blood? This smell… It's the same as that time!”

“Let us go now.”

The man turned the chair, its wheels creaked. Touma's mind started to clear up, his vision was normal.

“This place… it's the alleyway! She's there too, the woman.”

“Well, look now. She died because she tried to resist. You don't have to concern yourself with her, I'll be giving you a special treatment in a bit.”

“What does that mean?”

“You'll see soon.” The man was taking him somewhere.

“What's happening right now? Wasn't I dead? The girl, I saved her right? So why am I here? Have I died again? Or was it a dream? I can't move.” Thoughts flashed in his mind like a flood. Nothing made sense.

“Well kid, what's your name?”

“....”

“Don't want to tell me, huh? Guess I'll just have a look at your ID card then. 

Kisaragi Touma, I see. Well then, we're ready, Touma.”

“Wh-what is this place?!”

“You see, I give the people I love a special treatment.”

“What do you mean by that?!’

“I think it would be better to show it.”

“Hu–”

Thwack! The man interrupted Touma mid-sentence with a strong punch to the face. Touma's vision blurred, his mind went blank, the man was saying something, he couldn't make sense of it.

He felt the man lifting him up, but he didn't have any strength left to resist. Touma lost consciousness again.

“So you've finally woken up again. I was starting to get impatient now.”

“Huh? What… are… you… saying?”

“Don't try to speak, I accidentally broke your jaw with that punch, sorry about that, hehe.”

“Why… am I… here? What is… the place?”

“You sure are a curious one, well then, I'll tell you. 

You see, this place is my secret base. I do fun things here.”

“H-how?”

“Aww, you don't know? Well, no harm in telling you then. Can you move your neck, look there then. Those tools right there, I dissect my favourite people with them.”

“Wha—?”

“Shh, I don't want your voice to go outside.” The man covered Touma's mouth with his hand. “I’d made the right decision to tie you up after all.”

He took out a piece of cloth from his pocket, and shoved it in Touma's mouth, as a method to cover his voice. 

“How did this new bed feel? Ohh, you can't speak now, too bad.”

“Mmmmph!” Touma was trying to say something, possibly a call for help. But the cloth covering his mouth didn't let it happen.

 “You struggle too much. But in the end you can't do anything at all.

The only thing you are good at is ruining people's plans.”

“Yes.” Another familiar voice! “You only end up getting in people's way like insects, boy.” 

“Malrik! Why's he here? What's going on?! I can't… speak.”

“Touma, you only rely on luck. You ain't strong, you're weak. You take fun away from people!”

“Grather… bu– but I killed him! So how?”

“You even killed me and my brother. You don't deserve to live.”

“Why are these people here? Most of them are already dead too, so how? My mind is going blank. This smell… it's the same rotten stench of the field. Huh? What's that black figure?!’

The chains started making terrible ‘clang!’ sounds as Touma struggled. Until he felt searing pain in his belly.

“Look at this… this dark red blood! I knew you would feel amazing to dissect!”

Touma thrashed against the chains frantically, a terrible clang mixed with his muffled screams echoed in the room. He heard some people cheering from the backside. 

“YOU DESERVE THIS, TOUMA” 

“YOU ARE SO FUN! I KNEW IT!”

“THATS WHAT YOU GET FOR KILLING MY BROTHER!”

“I NEVER IMAGINED HEARING YOU SCREAM WOULD BE SO FUN!”

“YOU NEVER MADE A SOUND IN OUR BATTLE!”

“MMMMPH!! MMMMPH!! AUUUGHH!” Touma felt his muffled screams turning into full fledged guttural screams as his vision started to blur. It was all quiet now. Opening his eyes, he found himself under an unknown ceiling.

“Huff! Huff! Huh? Where… am I? What is this place? Ahh… My body hurts like hell.”

“What happened?!” A girl came running inside, it was Lyra. “Are you okay?!” she asked as he gasped for air.

“I… don't know. Why am I here? Just a few seconds ago, I was in that strange room. He was cutting me open as I was tied down. There were dead people there! The ones I've killed – and him, that man. I don't know what's happening anymore!”

“Makes sense. That's what happens when you get attacked by a Hollowborn. Why didn't you tell me that the injury on your back was from a Hollowborn, you fool?!”

“Wait a second, first up tell me, what's a Hollowborn?”

“Haah! Seriously you… leave it. I'll ask you in a way you'll understand then. Were you attacked by any strange dead looking things?”

“Ohhh, them! Yeah, I was. They reeked of rotten flesh and were strong too.”

“Huh? Don't you ‘Ohhh, them’ me! What do you think, that this is some kind of joke?! If you were attacked by something like that, say so earlier, you idiot.”

“Well, I thought they were just some normal monsters, so…”

“What kind of monsters do you think are normal?! You think you're some bigshot? If I'd have gotten even a 

minute late in getting you here, you'd be enjoying your new life as one of them!”

“What?!”

“Yeah. That's what happens when you get attacked by them. It's the Hollowborn’s curse. And that strange thing you just saw was due to it too.”

“Listen here, I'm sorry for worrying you. I mean it. So, can you please tell me what the hell is going on with this world?”

“I can't tell you much about that, you need to go to the library for that. But before that, I need you to take me to my village. The way there is full of Hollowborns so I can't go alone.”

“I would have, but my body hurts. 

Huh? Wait, the pain is gone. How?”

“The curse has been lifted, you've been healed. So come on now, let's go.”

Touma got up on his feet, the pain was gone, and he felt stronger than before.

“I'm gonna get dressed up and then we'll depart.” 

“Just make it quick please, Mr. Careless.”

“Stop calling me by those weird names!”

“Then tell me your name.”

“Touma Kisaragi. You can call me Touma.”

“Okay then, get ready fast. I'll be waiting out there.”

Touma got dressed up, and went outside. The sun shone brightly on the whole city. And in the distance was Lyra, standing near the horse, Sora.

They departed for the village. The galloping of the horse mixed with cold breeze put the mind at ease.

“It seems so peaceful on the outside. It's almost impossible to believe that creatures like them lurk in the shadows of this world.”

“This world? You talk as if you're some extraterrestrial being. What a strange guy you are.”

“You won't understand it if I told you my situation. It's kinda complicated. Anyways, how far is your village now?”

“It must be near now. In that direction. Wait a minute, that smoke… it's from the direction my village is in!”

“What?! We need to hurry then!”

“Please do, I don't want anything to happen to my grandpa. He is my only family. I can't lose him.”

“Don't worry, everything will be okay.”

The smoke got thicker and thicker as they approached the village. A house became visible, they were near. Everything looked fine from that distance.

“The house, it's fine. The village must be safe!”

“Yeah, didn't I say everything will be o–”

All hopes suddenly crumbled as they came in the vicinity of the village. The houses were burning. The villagers were on the ground– already dead a long time ago.

Lyra jumped off from the horse, and ran in the village with a worried look on her face. Touma followed.

“Stay here Sora, I'll come back in a bit.” was all he said before he went inside the village.

“Wait, Lyra. Don't march in there alone.”

“Grandpa!!” Lyra's scream echoed in the whole village.

“What happened?!” Touma arrived at the scene, only to be shocked by the unnerving sight in front of him.

Lyra was sitting on the ground, trembling – her grandfather's dead body sprawled next to her. And a black figure standing near it. 

“Don't tell me…”

“He turned into a Hollowborn. Why?!” Tears flowing from her eyes, Lyra was crying.

“Please stand up. I cannot tell you not to cry, but please, get up. We need to get out. Or we'll end up being like them too.”

“I don't want to… I can't live without him. He's dead now, so what even is the meaning of my life now. Grandpa left me behind, we promised to be together until the end of the world.”

“Please get up, this isn't the time to get hopeless. We need to escape. The whole village has turned into those monsters. 

Your grandfather wouldn't have wanted you to die. He wanted you to live, that's why I can't let you die too. Live for his sake! Take my hand and let's run from this place, we're running out of time.”

“Okay then, let's get out of here.” Lyra took Touma's hand and stood up. “Let's run!”

“Bluurgh... Huurgh…” Touma's knees buckled and he crashed on the dirt, clenching his stomach. Strings of bile splattered the ground, his whole body convulsing.

“Hey! What happened?! Why are you vomiting suddenly?!” Lyra panicked.

“It’s… the sm–HUURGH.” His gasps turned into dry heaves, throat tearing with every retch. His moans grew guttural, each splatter louder than the last.

“Calm down. You'll be okay!” Lyra rubbed his back.

“Huff… huff… it's the same as before.

This smell… I'll never be able to forget it. It's… the same smell as in that field, huff… huff…

But, it's… more intense than that 

time. That woman, she was here. She did this!!”

“What?!” Lyra's eyes grew, her legs buckled and she collapsed beside Touma. In that village, surrounded by those things – that were already closing in.