//------------------------------// // Dusk // Story: Dusk // by PeryFire //------------------------------// "Are you sure that's what you saw?" Twilight asked. "Yes!" Sonata shouted, her voice filled with panic. "I can't be mistaken! I can't! I don't know how, but it has to be right!" She yelled at Twilight. "Sonata, calm down." Twilight said. "We'll figure something out." "Don't tell me to calm down!" Sonata glared at Twilight. "You're not the one who... who..." She put her head in her hands and let out a sudden sob. Twilight cautiously stretched out an arm to place a hand on Sonata's shoulder. She let out a held breath when the girl accepted it. Sonata's uncharacteristic anger had made her nervous, and even afraid of her. Out of the silence grew the sound of a distant siren. Sonata's head jerked up, her tear stained face glaring at Twilight accusingly. "You called the police?" She shrieked. "How could you? You said you were going to help me!" "Sonata, I-" Twilight's eyes widened as the look in Sonata's eyes darkened. Twilight's gut told her that she was in grave danger, and she didn't waste a moment. She jumped up from the couch and raced out of the living room of her own home, bolting up the stairs. The sound of a second set of footsteps alerted her that Sonata was close behind. Sonata turned towards the sound, and saw Adagio on the ground, with the hooded figure kneeling over her. Something must have happened. Did Adagio faint? Concern for her friend overrode her desire to be alone, and she ran towards the two. They were all the way on the other side of the park, and Sonata wasn't a particularly fast runner, but she did her best to get there as soon as she could. When she was about halfway across the park, she noticed something strange about the person she didn't know, in the way that they were kneeling over Adagio. It didn't look like they were helping her, it looked like they were pressing down on her with all their weight. As she got even closer, she was able to see that the stranger's hands were placed around Adagio's throat. Sonata yelled out at the stranger, and pumped her legs faster, trying to close the distance between them as fast as she could. She didn't know what she would do when she got there, but she had to do something. She couldn't bear to lose another friend. She was twenty feet away, the stranger's face was still out of view. Sonata shouted at them, hoping to startle them into letting Adagio go, but they were deaf to her voice. They didn't react in the least, not even when Sonata was ten feet away, five feet away. Sonata was right behind them now, and she wasted no time in grabbing them by the arm, tearing them off Adagio, and spinning them around to face her. Sonata's heart stopped. The face that belonged to the murder of her classmates and friends... the face that belonged to the one who held the throat of a still and silent Adagio... The face belonged to her. When Sonata was halfway up the stairs, she heard a door slam. When she reached the top, she stopped and looked around, breathing heavily. There was a hallway with six closed doors before her. There were only so many places that Twilight could be hiding. She smiled. This one would be fun. She ripped open the first door on her left. It was only a closet, filled with boxes of mementos and random junk. A silver object caught her eye, and Sonata removed it from the closet, weighing it in her hand with a glint in her eye. It was a heavy, well balanced baseball bat, with an inscription: Shining Armour. Sonata grinned and headed to the next door. Sonata was walking through the alleys late into the evening. It was a safe part of town, she had nothing to fear, even if the streets were dark and empty. Ahead of her, she saw a head of orange hair bobbing along as the girl it belonged to walked, heading away from Sonata. Sonata licked her lips. This was her chance. She jogged quietly towards the girl, her small, but sharp blade ready. She quickly caught up to the girl, and didn't hesitated to grab the girl's hair, yank her head back, and glide the blade across her throat. The explosion of blood as a main artery was severed was fascinating to Sonata, but she knew she must not linger. She dropped the corpse and ran off into the night. "Come on out Twilight!" Sonata shouted. "I'm going to catch you whether you're hiding or not! Come out and I'll make this quick!" She kicked down another door and entered a dark bedroom. She ripped open the closet, checked under the bed. Nobody there either. Then she heard a noise outside the door, and she spun around, and caught Twilight trying to sneak back down the stairs. Twilight saw Sonata looking at her and bolted towards the staircase, Sonata close behind. "Oh no you don't!" Sonata growled, throwing the baseball down the staircase at Twilight. It struck the girl in the shoulder, knocking her off balance and causing her to tumble the remainder of the way down the stairs. Sonata stalked her next victim. She knew this one. Roseluck. The leader of the botany club. Nice girl. Too bad she was in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Sonata pounced on her. The poor girl didn't even know she was dying, it happened so quickly. But the quick and quiet murder garnished with a brilliant spray of blood wasn't as satisfying to Sonata as it first had. No, the novelty of it had worn off. She rolled her eyes and dropped Roseluck onto the dirty alley pavement and walked away, thinking of a new, more exciting method to use. Twilight screamed in pain as she fell down the stairs. She held her shoulder where the bat struck. If she survived this, it would surely be a nasty bruise. Sonata slid down the bannister and picked up the bat from where it fell after bouncing off Twilight's shoulder. Slinging it over her own shoulder, she looked down at Twilight fiercely. "Why...?" Twilight asked, shivering, and looking up at Sonata with fearful eyes. Sonata grinned and swung the bat down. It was very late. Sonata was certain she wouldn't find anyone tonight. She cursed herself for waiting so long, and being so picky with her targets. Now she would have to wait a whole other day. Her ears pricked up at the sound of a door shutting. She was lucky. Vinyl Scratch was leaving the club for the night after a gig. Possibly the only person who would be out this late, aside from Sonata herself. "Vinyl!" Sonata called out, jogging to meet her friend, and target. The DJ stopped in her tracks and looked back at her, clearly surprised to see Sonata out so late. "Hey." Vinyl said. "What are you doing out here so late?" "I could ask you the same thing." Sonata said, even though she knew the answer to that already. The two walked through the dark streets, and Sonata listened patiently as Vinyl told her about her gig and all the crazy people that were at the club that night. Sonata used the storyteller's distraction to her advantage, using it to lead Vinyl unwittingly into a dark alley where nobody would hear the screams. She slowly removed her knife, clenching it tight in her fist, the blade concealed by Sonata's long back sleeves. She struck. She didn't go for the throat this time. She wanted it to be longer than that. She stabbed Vinyl in the stomach, twisting the blade before tearing it out and plunging it into a shoulder, cutting her ear, leaving large slashes down her arms and torso. Blood splashed back and hit Sonata, but she didn't care. The screams filled her ears, and it was music to her. Beautiful. The blood that splattered the alley was art of the finest quality. Vinyl fell to the ground, falling on her back, looking up to see the stars one last time. But the sky was overcast today. She couldn't see the small beautiful lights. Vinyl let out a sob, knowing it was over. Sonata poised herself over the bleeding out body of a friend about to die. She decided to end Vinyl's misery. In a swift move, she stabbed her knife through Vinyl's eye, piercing her brain, killing her as effectively as a bullet. Sonata stood up and admired her work. It was a great improvement over her previous two pieces, and she eager to make more. There was a dull metallic ringing and a heavy thud as the bat hit Twilight in the arm, knocking her from her seated position onto the ground. She yelled as the vibrations ran up and down her arm. Sonata used her distraction to hit her again, this time striking her elbow and causing a sickening crack. Twilight screamed in pain as the joint broke. "Sonata, please! Stop!" Twilight pleaded. Sonata raised the bat again. The sirens were nearing. Sonata crept up behind one of her best friends, Aria Blaze. The girl had been calling for Sonata, and Sonata had been following her for quite some time now. But now was the time to strike. She snuck up and tapped Aria on the shoulder. The girl jumped and spun around, then frowned when she recognized Sonata. "Sonata! You scared me, don't do that!" She scolded. "Sorry." Sonata said sheepishly. She then proceeded to stab her friend violently and repeatedly. This time was different than the other three times though. Something in the back of her mind was nagging, itching at her brain, telling her to stop, to leave Aria alone. She ignored it best she could, but the nagging got closer and closer until it seemed like there was someone standing right behind her. She spun around, but nobody was there. She turned back to Aria, and dropped her knife. She realized what she had done. She killed her friend. As the regret seeped in, she wished she had listened to the voice in her head sooner. "I'm sorry Aria." Sonata whispered, her tears threatening to drown her. "I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough." She spoke to her, crying, apologizing over and over again through a blur of tears. Eventually she lifted an arm to wipe her eyes, and clear her vision. She looked down. Aria's eyes were glassy. She wasn't breathing. Sonata threw her head back, and screamed in the agony one can only feel watching one of their best friends die. Sonata brought the bat down on Twilight again, cracking some ribs this time. Twilight sobbed and begged for her to leave her alone, but Sonata couldn't leave Twilight alive. She couldn't leave a victim alive, not after she knew she was the murderer. But the sirens screamed louder and Sonata remembered that Twilight had already tattled on her. She growled in anger and lifted the bat, lining it up with Twilight's head. She would break her skull and it would be over. But there was an itch in her brain, a presence behind her. Sonata spotted Adagio in the park, skipping stones across the pond. Despite wanting to be alone right now, she decided to approach her friend and visit her for a while before heading home. The two chatted about regular things. Adagio told Sonata about the people watching her eat alone in the cafeteria. Sonata didn't hear much of it, her mind started to wander to other things, like murdering Adagio. She thought it was a novel idea, but didn't have any sort of tool on her to do it with. Then an idea popped into her mind. She could use her hands, and literally feel the life running out of Adagio's body. Yes. She pushed Adagio without warning, causing the girl to fall down, and shout out in surprise. Sonata jumped on her, pinning her down, and grasped her neck firmly with both her hands. She leaned down with all her weight on Adagio's neck, watching with anticipation as her friend's lips turned blue and her eyes grew bigger and bigger as panic set in. But there was that itch again. She forgot the regret that came with killing Aria in the heat of the moment, and not having learned her lesson, ignored the nagging voice as it got closer and closer. Suddenly, she felt as if she had been ripped away from Adagio by force, and she was worried that she had been caught. Serves her right for trying to do this in broad daylight. But when she spun around, nobody was there. She turned back to Adagio. She hadn't started to breathe again. Sonata looked down at her hands, her heart beat faster. She picked up her phone and called 9-11, then fled the scene. She ran straight to Twilight's house. She had to tell somebody. She had to stop this from happening again. Sonata yelled at herself to stop, sprinting towards the base of the staircase, hoping she would be in time to save Twilight, even after failing so many other times to save her friends. The Sonata with the baseball bat hesitated, hearing the yells, and the other Sonata took her opportunity to dive at Twilight's assailant, causing her to stagger and fall to her knees. Sonata gasped, feeling a force knocking her to the ground. She had heard the voice, had felt herself getting pushed down, but like the other times, there was nobody there. The anger melted away, and Sonata let out a breath in relief. She stopped herself from killing Twilight. She looked around for the assailant, the other her, but there was only her and Twilight. She sobbed and collapsed onto the floor. "I'm sorry Twilight, I'm sorry." She threw the baseball bat away. The sirens were loud and blaring now. "I wish I got here sooner, I wish I stopped her sooner!" She said, gritting her teeth. Twilight didn't understand. She could put the pieces together a little bit, but the blinding pain she was in made it difficult. "It's... okay, Sonata..." She said, gasping at the pain in her ribs. "What matters is that... You got here... And I'm alive..." There was a pounding at the door. Sonata took Twilight's hand and looked at her, fearful. "Twilight?" "Yeah?" "Please don't let them hurt me." The door crashed open. Twilight sat at her desk, chewing her pencil and staring idly at the clock. She normally paid close attention to the lectures she attended, but today was different. She hadn't heard a word all day. It was had been six months since Sonata had attacked her and been arrested. The time after that had been hectic. In court, Sonata had pleaded guilty to her crimes, even though she felt as if she didn't understand them. Thanks to Twilight's testimony, Sonata was sent to confinement in a mental institution, rather than a prison. She was being treated and studied by fine medical personnel, and everybody hoped that she would one day be cured, and able to return to a normal life. Today was the first day since Sonata's admittance to the institution that she would be allowed visitors, and Twilight intended to pay her a visit and see how she was doing, as well as show her how well her own injuries had healed. She knew Sonata felt infinitely bad for the things she had inflicted on Twilight, and she wanted to ease Sonata's mind a bit with the news of her recovery. After school, Twilight raced out of the room and headed off to see Sonata. When she got there, she was lead to Sonata's room and given a chair to sit on across from Sonata. The nurse told her she would wait just outside the door if she needed anything. Now alone with Sonata, Twilight spoke up. "Hi Sonata. It's nice to see you again." She said, a little nervously. "How are you?" Sonata sighed. "I'm tired, Twilight." She said. "I don't know what's wrong with me, and I don't think that they do either. I think they're just guessing on how to fix me. It's exhausting." "Don't lose hope, Sonata." Twilight said, leaning forward to place a hand on Sonata's shoulder. "You'll be back in no time, I know it." "Maybe I shouldn't be allowed to ever leave, Twilight. I killed all those people... My own friends." She sighed. "And they weren't the only victims. All of their friends and families were hurt by me too." "But you're a victim too, Sonata." Twilight said softly. "I won't pretend to know what's wrong with you, but... it seemed to me that you didn't really know it was you. It's like you became something else. Something that wasn't you. And you have to suffer because of it too. You lost friends too." Sonata sighed again. "No, I shouldn't ever be let out." She said. "I don't want to risk it happening again." "Sonata, you deserve a chance to live a normal life." Twilight said. "You'll see, they'll figure it out and you'll get better and you'll be able to leave this place, and be normal again. And I'll be there with you every step of the way." Sonata growled, and Twilight retracted her hand. A second later Sonata launched herself at Twilight, and there was a crash as Twilight tipped her chair over backwards and fell to the floor. She instinctively scooted herself back until she hit a wall, in fear of Sonata pursuing her. When she reached the wall she realized that Sonata was restrained to the chair, which was bolted to the floor. She couldn't hurt Twilight. The hateful fire in Sonata's eyes dulled, and Sonata sighed. "I'm sorry Twilight." She said, turning her face down to avoid eye contact. "I think you should leave now." "Sonata..." Twilight said sadly, unsure of what to tell her. "It would be best for the both of us... if you left." She said. "Okay." Twilight whispered. "You'll get out of this, Sonata. I know you will." "If that's what makes you feel better, keep telling yourself that." Sonata replied. The nurse opened the door and motioned for Twilight to leave the room. Twilight slowly got up and walked to the door, and looked back at Sonata. Tears slipped from Twilight's eyes as she looked at her broken friend, tied down to a chair in a cold hard room. "Goodbye, Sonata." She said. Sonata didn't look up. "Goodbye."