A serial killer is picking off students at Canterlot High, and Sonata Dusk can only wait to see who the next victim will be.
Sonata Dusk is an average teenaged girl attending an average high school. But when a serial killer starts picking off her fellow students, her life becomes anything but average.
AU tag for regular, non-magical high school setting.
Sonata Dusk rolled over and slapped her alarm clock as it blared at her, signalling for her to start her day. She groaned. It was Monday. She had a whole week of early mornings, classes, and homework. She wished the weekend would come sooner. It was a typical Monday morning.
The alarm clock began it's tasteless blaring once again, and Sonata once again reached out from beyond her warm bed to make it stop. With a long sigh, she got up to start her morning routine.
First were toaster waffles and a big ol' glass of orange juice. Sonata couldn't start her day without eating a breakfast of waffles drowning in syrup and icing sugar. After that came brushing her teeth, washing the sleep out of her eyes, picking out an outfit, and combing her blue hair into a neat ponytail. Today she settled on some jeans and a maroon hoodie. It was a typical Monday decision. Mondays were miserable enough without being uncomfortable.
Sonata yawned, still sleepy, and glanced at the clock. She jumped, suddenly alert. It was 8:00! She was going to be late for school!
She ran to her desk and scooped a haphazard pile of textbooks and papers into her backpack, barely remembering to zip it up before slinging it over her shoulder. She ran out the front door and ran to vault the low front gate. She stopped herself short, and ran back to her house to lock the door, before taking another run at the gate. She cleared it and raced down the street, her feet pounding on the damp pavement in a rhythm in time with her heartbeat.
A typical Monday morning.
When Sonata got to school, she pushed through the front doors without stopping, skipped visiting her locker, and went straight to homeroom. She slipped into her desk next to Adagio and Aria just as the bell rang to signal the beginning of class.
"Yes!" She hissed, pumping her fist in victory. "Just in time!" A typical Monday morning greeting to her friends.
Adagio yawned in the desk next to her. "Really Sonata, you do this every morning." She rolled her eyes. "You really have to start paying attention to the time. One of these days you'll actually be late."
"Nah," Sonata waved a hand. "If that happens I'll just have to run faster."
"Whatever you say." Adagio was about to say something else when the intercom buzzed on. An announcement was made instructing all students to assemble in the gymnasium.
"Huh." Aria said groggily. "That's weird. Wonder what that's all about."
"Who cares?" Adagio retorted. "So long as it gets us out of class!"
The three friends smiled to each other, and noticed that their fellow classmates were just as happy to dodge an early morning lecture on ideology.
As the students filed into the gymnasium and found seats on the bleachers, the excited chatter began to die down. Something about the rigid formality and seriousness of Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna was unsettling to them.
"Geez." Aria whispered, eyeing up the school's leaders. "Looks like we're in for a lecture after all."
"Yeah." Adagio scoffed, crossing her arms. "I'll bet that someone vandalized some lockers or broke a window. Again. And we're all being punished for it."
"At least we're not in class?" Sonata offered. The three friends broke off their conversation as Principal Celestia stepped up to the podium, prompting the room to fall silence.
"My dear students," She began, her tone flat and serious. "It is with great sadness that I inform you that over the weekend one of your fellow students, Orange Slice, has lost her life."
There was an outbreak of whispers among the students. Principal Celestia waited patiently for most of it to subside before going on.
"This is a very difficult time for all of us." She continued. "But the circumstances surrounding Orange Slice's death are suspicious and police have declared that she was murdered. I know that this is very alarming, but if anyone has any information that may help in the investigation, they are urged to come forth. If you have any information, you can call the police station, or if you are uncomfortable, you can tell any of the staff here and they will forward it to the police." She looked to Vice Principal Luna, then stepped back from the podium, allowing Vice Principal Luna to step up.
"Students, this is a very unfortunate and difficult occurrence that no school should have to endure." Her tone was much softer and more gentle than the Principal's. "As many of you knew Orange Slice and interacted with her on a daily basis, this may be very hard on you. For the next few weeks, some grief counsellors will be taking up office at the school. You may visit them any time during school hours, or afterwards until six o'clock. You will be pardoned for leaving class to do so. School will be cancelled for the rest of the day. I encourage any of you who knew Orange Slice or feel... unwell about this tragedy to stay and speak to the counsellors. Class will resume tomorrow, and we'll announce memorial details as soon as her family releases them."
The room remained silent as Vice Principal Luna stepped away from the podium. There was an eerie silence as the students waited to see if there was any more to be said. Eventually, a few students stood up and left the gymnasium, and the rest followed suit, quietly getting up and filing neatly out, stopping at their lockers on their way out the building. The school was devoid of sound other than the opening and closing of lockers and whispered conversations.
"Did either of you know Orange Slice?" Aria finally asked when the three reached their adjacent lockers.
"Nuh-uh." Sonata said, shaking her head.
"I don't think I've ever heard her name in my life." Adagio said. "Still, it's kind of... disturbing. Someone who once walked these halls just like us... murdered."
There was a pause before Aria spoke up. "Do you want to go talk to someone?"
Adagio rolled her eyes. "No, I don't want to go talk to anyone. It's just eerie, is all I'm saying. Like there could be a ghost wandering the halls."
"Ghosts?" Sonata asked, retreating into her sweater childishly. "She won't come back as a ghost, right?"
"Oh come on, don't tell me you believe in that ghost crap." Adagio said. She sighed when Sonata continued to look at her with fearful eyes. "No, she won't come back as a ghost."
The three were silent again until they were walking down the street.
"So, what do we do now?" Aria asked. "We get the day off, and we didn't make any plans, obviously."
"Oh!" Sonata bounced up and down, apparently forgetting all about ghosts. "We can hang out at my house! We can make tacos for lunch! It'll just be like Tuesday, but with no class!"
"I guess tacos would be cool." Adagio agreed. "I'm in. Aria?"
"Sure, but we're going to spend all morning watching movies."
"We're watching Daring Do!" Sonata yelled insistently. The other two groaned, as Sonata made them rewatch her favourite movie on multiple occasions. "My house my rules!" She teased.
The day of tacos and movies had concluded, her friends had gone home, and Sonata was readying herself for a good night's sleep. She put on her fuzziest pajamas and thought about her day as she brushed her teeth. She had a wonderful day. All three of them had. At some point they had all forgotten the reason they were let out of school in the first place.
As Sonata turned out the lights in her bathroom and walked to her room, she thought about Orange Slice, a girl she had maybe seen once or twice, but never actually talked to. As she tucked herself into bed, she thought about what Principal Celestia had said about the police report. As she drifted off to sleep, there was a whisper in the back of her mind.
Sonata waited at the kitchen table. She stared at the wooden surface, absentmindedly tracing the grain of the wood with her fingertip. The faucet was dripping slowly, the kitchen clock was ticking. In a silent house, these two things were deafening.
There was a light knock on the door. Sonata rose from the table and answered the door.
"Ready to go?" Adagio asked.
Go where? Sonata thought. She noticed Adagio's uncharacteristic all-black attire. Then she looked down at herself, and saw she was dressed the same. Right. The funeral. "Yeah." She said.
The two got into Adagio's car, and Aria and Sonata greeted each other. As they drove to the funeral home, Sonata looked out the window, trying to clear her head. When the incident regarding Orange Slice's death showed up in the newspaper, Sonata and her friends had read it together, wondering what happened, and what was known about the suspect. Sonata had eagerly awaited that article, but after she had read it, she wished she hadn't. Orange Slice was murdered in an alley in a part of town she and her friends liked to hang out in. It was a nice, friendly, and safe place to be, even in the evenings. Until now, of course. Sonata couldn't help but think that it could have been her. The deceased had her throat cut. It was likely that she never knew what was happening to her. Worst of all, the police had no suspects. Whoever killed this innocent girl was still out there.
"Sonata? You okay?"
Sonata's head jerked up. Adagio and Aria were standing outside the car, peering in at her through the open driver's door.
"You were zoned out for quite a while," Adagio said. "We're here."
"Oh." Sonata said. "Sorry, I was just thinking."
"You alright?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Sonata smiled weakly and got out of the car, following her friends into the funeral home. They found themselves seats at the back beside Twilight Sparkle.
"Why are you sitting back here by yourself?" Adagio asked Twilight, leaning forward to look past Sonata.
Twilight adjusted her glasses awkwardly. "Well, my friends are up front with the family and close friends of Slice. I didn't know her very well, I only moved schools a month ago, so I guess I just didn't really feel comfortable being up there." She explained. "Did you girls know her?"
"No." Sonata whispered. "None of us have ever even talked to her I don't think. But we still wanted to come and pay our respects to the family."
"It's a horrible thing to have happened to them." Aria said solemnly. "And it could have happened to anybody."
The room's whispers died out and the service began.
The service was over, and the three friends plus Twilight stood off to the side in the reception hall. The hall was filled with people.
"It looks like the entire school came." Twilight observed. "I think it's nice that so many of the students came. We need to be together to support each other in times like this."
"People are starting to leave. I think we should head out and give those closest to Slice some space." Adagio said.
"Yeah. We're going to have a gathering at school on Monday for all of the students to talk about Slice." Twilight said. "That'll be a better place for us to be, when we don't really know her."
"I agree." Adagio said. "Want a ride home, Twilight?"
"That would be great, thanks!" Twilight said, giving a small smile.
The car pulled up to Sonata's front gate. She said her farewells to her friends and got out of the car. Twilight soon followed, saying she only lived around the corner and didn't mind walking the rest of the way. However, not long after Sonata hung up her jacket and took off her shoes, there was a hesitant knock on the door.
"Hey Sonata," Twilight said shyly when the door opened. "I couldn't help but notice... You seemed..." She thought for a moment, trying to find the right words. "Are you okay? You just seemed kind of out of it today. I thought maybe you'd want to talk to someone about it."
Sonata stared at Twilight.
"I-I'm sorry." Twilight said, backing away from the door. "We barely know each other, of course you don't want to talk to me, this is none of my business, I'll just be-"
"Would you like to come in for tea?" Sonata interrupted, in a soft voice.
"What?"
"Tea. Would you like to have some tea?" Sonata repeated, stepping aside to invite Twilight in.
"Oh." Twilight said. "Sure." She awkwardly stepped through the door past Sonata, quickly removing her shoes.
Sonata shut the door and lead Twilight into her kitchen, flicking on her electric kettle after checking if it needed a refill. The two sat down in silence listening to the kettle start to boil. Twilight fidgeted awkwardly. The kettle clicked off, and finally the silence was broken.
"What kind of tea would you like?" Sonata asked, holding out a basket of assorted teas. Twilight picked one, and Sonata took it from her and placed it into a mug, pouring hot water over it. She made one for herself and brought the two mugs over to the table.
"Thank you." Twilight said, accepting the hot beverage. Unfortunately that was the last thing said for another few moments. Twilight was beginning to think she shouldn't have come, when Sonata spoke up, her eyes trained on her hands.
"Slice's death shook me up." Sonata said. "A life was extinguished, just like that. One moment there, the next, gone. The paper said that it probably happened so quickly that she didn't know it was happening. It's just..." She trailed off.
"You're becoming overly aware of your own mortality and the fragility of life?" Twilight offered.
Sonata smiled weakly at the accuracy of her guess. "Yeah. It could have been me, it could have been you. It could have been any of my friends, or family... It's just scary how life can just end so unexpectedly and fast."
Twilight nodded in agreement. Silence fell once again, but it wasn't uncomfortable this time.
After a few moments, Sonata started talking again. "My mom died a few years ago. She was very sick for a long, long time. I spent every day for months waiting for the call. Every time the phone rang, I was scared that she had died. When she finally did it hurt, but... I was waiting for it. I knew it was going to happen. This is different."
"I'm so sorry." Twilight said softly.
"It's okay, it was a long time ago. She's in a better place now. But... that's the only time I've really had to deal with death. I just kind of always thought it was this slow thing that you knew was going to happen. With Orange Slice... nobody knew it was going to happen until after it happened. It's... Terrifying."
"I know exactly what you mean." Twilight said.
"I'm even afraid to leave my house sometimes. I could go outside and get hit by a car and it would be over. Anything could happen. Nowhere is safe."
Twilight reached out and put a hand over one of Sonata's. For the first time during the conversation, Sonata looked Twilight in the eyes.
"Sonata, I know that this can be really scary, and thinking about it makes it even worse. But you can't let yourself be afraid of living your day to day life. You might be safe, but you'd be wasting your life. And if something does happen to you... well, I guess you won't have to think about it because you'll be dead, but..." Twilight shook her head, trying to find better words. "At least you'll have lived up until that point. Like, actually lived. You know?"
"Yeah." Sonata replied, smiling softly. "I know. Thank you Twilight."
Sonata Dusk hid herself under the covers of her bed, crying softly into her pillow. It had happened again. Another of her classmates was dead. It was Roseluck. Sonata hadn't known Roseluck well, but she had talked to her and hung out with her on occasion. She was a very nice person.
Was.
Sonata whimpered on that thought. The haunting past-tense she now had to use when talking about someone who could have become one of her best friends, in time. But that time was cut short.
After what felt like a few hours, Sonata pulled he blankets off, away from her face. The air of her bedroom felt cool against her tear-stained face in contrast to the warm muggy atmosphere under her blanket. She wiped still wet tears off her face with a sleeve and sat up.
She sat on the edge of her bed, facing the mirror on the wall. She stared at herself blankly as she thought about the second murder, only a week after the first. She died the same way as Orange Slice. Safe part of town, throat neatly slashed. One moment alive and well, the next dead on the ground, in a pool of her own blood.
Sonata shuddered at the thought of the nice girl she knew lifeless, drowning in her own blood. It was a horrible thought, and Sonata's image in the mirror blurred as tears came to her once again. She rubbed them away and glared at herself in the mirror.
She couldn't cry forever. She needed to go to school. There were no classes today, they had been cancelled due to the tragic event, but the Botany Club had extended an invitation to the whole school to participate in planting a garden in front of the school in memory of Roseluck, who was the club's founder, and Orange Slice. She intended to do her part in the tribute.
The shrill ringing of her phone made Sonata jump, and she removed her cell from her pocket and checked the caller ID. Twilight Sparkle. The two of them had become fast friends since the afternoon after Slice's funeral. Twilight and her friends cheered her up by inviting her to their lunch table to listen to Pinkie Pie tell funny jokes and stories to lighten the mood. Of course, Adagio and Aria were also invited, but they were less interested in the Rainbooms than Sonata was.
"Hello?" Sonata answered her phone, wincing at the raspiness of her voice. She coughed to clear her throat.
"Hi Sonata, it's Twilight." A pause. "I was... about to head to the school. I was thinking if you hadn't gone yet, maybe you'd like to come with me?"
There was silence.
"Sonata? Are you there?"
"Yeah." Sonata answered, shaking her head. "Sorry about that. I'd like that, Twilight."
The two girls walked down the street in the direction of the school. Sonata had her hands buried in the pockets of her sweater, her head hung low. She would have worn something a little more formal, but she felt as if she didn't possess the energy to do so much as change. In fact, she probably wouldn't have left her house if not for Twilight.
"How are you feeling today, Sonata?" Twilight asked after a bought of silence, concern tainting the tone of her voice.
"Good, thanks." Sonata answered. "How are you?"
Twilight paused for a moment. "Are you really 'good,' because you don't seem like it." She settled on saying.
It was Sonata's turn to think. "Oh. I... guess I'm not good. Guess it's just the default response, you know? You get so used to just saying "I'm fine" whenever anyone asks because that's what they want to hear."
"So... how are you feeling?" Twilight asked hesitantly.
"I... guess the best way to describe it is that I'm... feeling disoriented?" Sonata asked, shrugging.
"How do you mean?" Twilight asked, curious.
"Well," Sonata replied, pulling her hands from her pockets to nervously wring them. "I guess I'm just in shock and a bit freaked out by the... the deaths. I feel like there's just been... holes in my life. Like I'll look at the clock one moment and it'll be seven pm, and five minutes later it'll be two in the morning, and I'm not sure where the time has gone or what I've done with it."
"Like, lapse in memory?" Twilight asked with curiosity. "Or more like time passing quickly while you're deep in thought?"
"I'm not sure." Sonata said. "Sometimes it happens when I go out for a walk. I'll be walking just to clear my head and suddenly I'm on the other side of town and it's dark already. Or sometimes it just happens when I'm laying in bed staring at the wall. I used to think that I just fell asleep, but that doesn't explain the walks."
"It's not uncommon for people to zone out and completely lose track of time." Twilight reassured. "Especially in times of stress. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Although... if this is bothering you too much, I really think you should go see one of the counsellors. It can't hurt."
"Yeah, thanks Twilight. I might do that." There was a silence for a while. "Hey Twilight?" Sonata asked. "How come I haven't seen you around your friends so much lately?"
Twilight looked at her, mildly surprised. "What do you mean?"
"Well, at the funeral... you weren't sitting with them, and you came and hung out with me and my friends at the reception... And you're here with me again now..."
"Well, to be honest..." Twilight hugged herself. "Well, I'm not as close to them as they are to each other. I'm still pretty new to them, and them to me. And sometimes I get the feeling that it makes a difference. I find myself getting forgotten here and there, and sometimes I feel like I'm just extra to their group. Like they adopted the cool 'new kid' because it's fun to make friends with new faces, but then they started to find out the new kid doesn't really fit in with them. But they don't want to be rude and say anything."
Sonata paused before responding. "Well, I don't think that they want you gone if that's what you're thinking. I think that they're just a large group, and that makes it hard to give everyone all the attention they might get in a small group of friends."
"Maybe." Twilight said, unconvinced. "Maybe that's why I've been trying to hang out with you, Adagio, and Aria more. Smaller group." She winced. "I don't think the other two like me all that much though."
"Well, I like you, Twilight." Sonata said. "I think you're a great friend."
Twilight smiled. "Thanks."
The two looked ahead of them and saw the entrance to school grounds. The time for conversation was over. They entered the school grounds and made their way towards a brand new flowerbed site, where members of the botany club were situated around a table, boxes of bulbs stacked on and under it. In the fresh patch of dirt, there were rows marked with string on stakes, and there were already tons of little spots where the dirt had been gently packed down over a bulb.
"Hi girls." Carrot Top greeted as the two approached. Her eyes were red, and she looked tired despite it being the early afternoon. "Would you like to plant a bulb for Rose's garden?"
"We would." Twilight answered. "What kind of flowers are they?"
"Tulips mostly." She replied. "In every colour of the rainbow, and then some. They're all mixed up, so we won't know which colour each one will be or what the garden will look like until they bloom. We thought Rose would like that. She appreciated the aesthetic of a wild meadow more than perfect organized rows." She handed each of them a bulb from the open box on the table and gave them instructions on where and how to plant them.
"Do you think Roseluck will like the garden?" Sonata asked as the two left school property.
"I think so." Twilight answered.
"I hope that we don't have to make any more memorials."
Sonata sat at her desk, poised above her math homework. Normally derivatives didn't give her much trouble, but the last couple of weeks had been different. Her grades had been slowly dropping as she struggled with regular quizzes, and now she had a much more heavily weighted exam coming up. She figured maybe her grades were suffering due to her lack of studying in light of the recent tragedies. A lot of students were having the same problem, she thought. Sonata had assumed that she could remedy this problem for herself by hitting the books, but she had been sitting at her desk for nearly an hour, and her pencil hadn't yet touched the blank page in front of her, even just to copy the first problem down. The equations, which normally presented little challenge to her, were swimming before her eyes, tangling themselves, making themselves impossible to read.
With a sigh, Sonata dropped her pencil and stretched her arms behind her head, leaning back to stare at the ceiling. She was disappointed. She had hoped that maybe if she could start studying like normal, she would start to feel normal. But the haze that was cast over her mind that fatefully couple of weeks ago remained, and made it incredibly difficult for her to focus, or think about much else.
"Well, a little fresh air might help to get my gears turning." Sonata said to herself, though unconvinced. She frequently turned to walking when she couldn't concentrate, and knew from her recent experience that when she got back, she still wouldn't be able to focus on her work. Despite knowing this, Sonata found herself zipping up her coat and heading out the front door.
The sky was dark and the air was cool, a sharp breeze made Sonata shiver and stuff her bare hands into her pockets for warmth. She didn't overly mind the cold. She was used to the temperature drop after the sun went down. It was her favourite time to walk. It was so peaceful, and quiet, as most people have by now tucked themselves away in bed.
As she walked, her mind wandered. Her legs, seemingly on autopilot, led her aimlessly around the silent town, her eyes blind to her surroundings. She was lost within the confines of her own mind, unaware of time and space, and everything happening around her.
She wasn't sure how long she had been walking, lost in her own thoughts. She was only vaguely aware of the world around her; a sound of a particularly loud car on the highway outside of town, the screeching of seagulls. If Sonata were paying any attention, or any thought to the outside sounds that drifted into her mind, she would have been curious about the seagulls. She would have thought that one was being attacked. She might have assumed that one had been caught by a stray cat, and was slowly being tortured to death. She might have even realized that what she heard was actually human screams.
But what snapped Sonata back into reality wasn't the screams. As she passed through an alleyway, she slipped on a wet surface, and was shocked out of her inner world, flailing her arms to keep her balance. Her heart was beating furiously, the slip having startled her.
"Jeez..." She muttered to herself, shaking her head. As she let herself calm down, she glanced down at her watch. She wasn't entirely surprised to see that it was three in the morning already. This had happened to her plenty of times before. The shock value had worn off. It had felt like she had left her home only fifteen minutes ago, but it had been in fact, hours.
As Sonata looked at the digital display on her wrist, her eyes changed focus, and her attention was drawn to the white toe of her black converses. They were clean before she left her house, but now they had a splash of something on them. She initially dismissed it as mud from the puddle she slipped in, but something was off. The lighting was bad, but she was certain that it was the wrong colour to be dirt. It looked a tad more...
Sonata froze, staring at her shoe, holding her breath. Slowly, she took out her cell phone and held it over her shoe. Her finger paused over the flashlight button. She considered just running away, throwing her shoes in the garbage without even looking at them. But deep down she already knew. She turned the light on.
Red.
That's not all. The ground around her, the puddle she had slipped in, was muddy, but clearly very bloody. It was wet, and hadn't yet soaked all the way into the dirt, or dried up. It was fresh.
Sonata swallowed hard, and slowly turned around.
What she saw was so sickening, so horrifying, that she couldn't even scream. Her eyes were wide, and unblinking.
Realization washed over her. It was a horrible truth. She had heard the screams, but did nothing. She didn't even register them. She could have called the police. She could have shouted for help. She could have scared the criminal away. She could have prevented this from happening. She could have seen their face, she could have helped the police identify them and stop this from happening ever again. If only she were paying attention. If only her mind hadn't been so foggy ever since the first murder. She could have done something. Instead, she ignored the screams, and stepped over it. Stepped over the body.
The body.
Sonata screamed.
Her bloodshot eyes stared straight ahead, unseeing. Her skin was ghostly pale. To anybody else the room was silent, but to Sonata, the ticking of the clock behind her was unbearably loud.
"Sonata? Can you hear me?" A gentle voice asked.
Sonata turned her head to the side, her eyes still unfocused. The blurry shape of a woman appeared in her vision.
"Sonata, can you tell me what happened last night?" She asked. "Do you remember?"
Sonata nodded. She was afraid of those memories. That horrifying scene. She didn't want to be here right now, but Twilight and Adagio had made her come here to talk to this stranger.
"Can you tell me what happened?" The woman asked again. "Why were you outside so late at night?"
Silence filled the air. The woman was being patient. Sonata appreciated the fact that she didn't feel pressured to answer right away, and took the time to collect herself.
"I was having a hard time concentrating on my homework, so I went for a walk." She replied.
"What time did you leave home?"
"I.... I'm not sure. I think it was before midnight."
"You were walking until three in the morning? Why such a long walk?"
"It's something I do a lot." Sonata replied. Her eyes drifted to the floor, but she noticed that her vision was clearing slowly. "Ever since Orange Slice was murdered, I've been having problems concentrating. I've been zoning out a lot. When I go for walks, sometimes I zone out so completely, I don't even see what's around me. When I finally come to, it's hours later."
"You can't see anything when this happens?" The woman asked.
"Well, I guess I can see. I don't run into anything when it happens. I just don't register anything. Sometimes I can hear sounds, too. But I don't register those either. They just pass through my mind and are forgotten."
There was silence. Sonata could hear the faint sound of a pencil scratching on paper.
Sonata decided to go on. "Last night I thought I heard seagulls. I don't think that's what it actually was. I think it was the... the screams." She said. "That didn't even wake me up again. What woke me up was when I... slipped in the blood. I almost fell. I walked right over the... the body."
"What happened after you 'woke up'?" The woman asked.
"I looked down and saw the blood. And then I turned around and I saw it." Sonata said. "It was... terrible. I've... I've heard that Orange Slice and Roseluck were killed quickly, that their throats were cut and that was it. But this was... nothing like that. It was like... like she was stabbed over and over and over again. Her clothes were all messed up, her whole body was just.... red... When people started coming with flashlights I saw... more blood. It was all over the alley. On the walls of the buildings, all down the length of the alley, there was just so much blood. And then there was... the knife. I think that was the worst part." Sonata was whispering now. "They just left the knife there, buried up to the hilt in her eye."
"You remember this very vividly." The woman stated.
"I don't think I can ever forget." Sonata replied.
"Does this disturb you?"
"Yes." Sonata asked. "I'm still realizing that it's real. It feels all like a dream. A very bad dream."
"That's okay. You've experienced quite a shock." The woman assured. "Sonata, was the victim one of your friends from school?"
"Yes. I didn't recognize her right away though. I was more focussed on the blood."
"Were you good friends?"
"Well... We didn't hang out all the time, but we did sometimes. I liked her a lot."
"Was she closer to you than Orange Slice and Roseluck?"
"Yes." Sonata bit her lip. Tears started to form in her eyes. "I wish I saw who did this to her. I could have stopped it. I could have stopped it from happening again, if only I saw who did it."
There was a pause. "Sonata, do you blame yourself for what happened to Vinyl?" The woman asked.
Tears dripped down Sonata's cheeks at the mention of Vinyl's name. "If it had been anybody else, they would have seen who did it. They would have heard the screams and tried to help. Even if they couldn't have saved Vinyl, they could have made sure that she was the last victim. But it had to be me out there. And I wasn't paying attention."
"Do you blame yourself?" The woman asked, her voice very serious.
Sonata paused. "Yes. It's my fault."
"Did you kill Vinyl Scratch?" The woman asked.
Sonata looked up in horror. "W-what?"
"Did you kill Vinyl Scratch?" The woman asked again.
"N-no!" Sonata said. "Of course not! She was my friend! Why would I kill her? I couldn't kill anybody! Why are you accusing me of murder, you're supposed to be helping me!" She said frantically.
"Sonata, please calm down, I'm not accusing you of anything. Take deep breaths."
Sonata did as asked.
"You didn't kill her. So it isn't your fault." The woman said in a kind voice. "It isn't your fault for not realizing it was happening. It isn't Vinyl's fault for being out so late. It's only the murder's fault. They made the decision to go out of their way to hurt someone. It's their fault, and nobody else's."
Sonata stared at the floor again.
"Do you understand?" The woman asked.
Sonata nodded. "Yes." She said weakly.
When her appointment with the psychologist had finished, Sonata found Twilight and Adagio waiting for her in the lobby. The two walked her home, one on each side of her.
"How do you feel Sonata?" Twilight asked.
"Well, better than I was right after... the incident." Sonata replied, watching her feet as she walked. She wasn't wearing her converses today. Nor would she ever wear them again.
"It must have been pretty scary." Adagio said. "Especially when the police came. You had to answer all of their questions right there and then."
"Yeah." Sonata said. "They were really nice to me after they realized I was so distressed though. I remember them giving me a blanket and let me sit in one of the cars to talk to one of the officers."
"Treating for shock." Twilight said. "That's good of them to do."
"I guess you aren't going to come to school tomorrow?" Adagio asked.
"No..." Sonata said. "Principal Celestia heard what happened and told me that I can stay home for as long as I need to."
They approached Sonata's house, and walked her up to her doorstep.
"Well, just remember, Sonata," Twilight said. "Your friends are always here for you. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call any of us."
"Thanks Twilight." Sonata said. "But I think I just want to be alone for a bit. I need some rest."
It had been a week since Sonata had stumbled upon the body of her friend, Vinyl Scratch. She still didn't believe what she saw, but it had sunk in. Sonata found her mind drifting to the image frequently: When she was watching mindless trash TV, eating dinner, trying to do math homework. She would just zone out and relive the whole ordeal. She hadn't been on a walk since then. She was afraid that if she did, she would wake up in the middle of another murder scene.
It had been a week, and she was itching for one of those long walks. Her mind would just go blank on those walks. She wouldn't have to think about anything. She could escape from the bloody images that were stained onto her retinas.
The funeral was yesterday. It was a closed casket funeral. This was relieving to Sonata, but also stood as a harsh reminder of the gruesome details on the night Vinyl was killed. The knife was particularly disturbing to Sonata. She wasn't sure if it was because it had been shoved into her friend's eye, or the fact that it was left on the scene. Something that belonged to the killer was left there. She saw a piece of the killer. She shivered at the thought.
It was now nearing ten o clock. The sky was dark. Twilight, Adagio and Aria were coming for a sleepover. They promised to bring fun DVDs over to watch to try and get Sonata to have a bit of fun and forget about the tragedy for just a while. They were supposed to show up at nine thirty, but there was no sign of them yet. Sonata didn't feel too hurt about being forgotten. She wasn't particularly looking forward to the sleepover anyways. However, the thoughts invading her mind were starting to make her restless. She found herself pacing in her room, or getting up to go to the kitchen for no reason.
After struggling for a few more minutes, Sonata finally gave in and decided that she would go out on a walk. She needed the relief that came with it. The calm, refreshing nothingness that she needed so desperately now.
She tied her shoes, an old pair of runners that she hadn't worn since her last mandatory gym class at school. The wind howled outside, and she knew it would be chilly, so she donned her thick black sweater that was warm enough to serve as a jacket so long as it wasn't snowing out. As her hand contacted the doorknob on her way to open it, she paused, having second thoughts. The last time she went out on a walk something horrible happened. Was she really willing to have a repeat of that?
She eventually opened the door and stepped out into the windy night. She decided that she couldn't possibly stumble upon a dead body every time she took a stroll, and even if she did, how much worse could her trauma get at this point? What's a few more sleepless nights on top of what she already had?
One thought she didn't have was the fear of becoming the serial killer's next victim. Perhaps she didn't care if she became the next headline. She just wanted to escape her racing mind for a few hours, no matter the cost.
Adagio's car pulled up to the curb in front of Sonata's house. At first, the three girls inside the car didn't notice that the house was dark. But upon ringing the doorbell several times, and waiting several minutes, the three began to worry.
"Where do you think she is?" Twilight asked, biting her lip.
"Well, we are late." Aria said. "Maybe she just went to bed?"
"She should have woken up with how aggressive we've been with the doorbell, though." Adagio replied, shifting the stack of DVDs in her arms to pull her phone out of her pocket and glance at the display. "I texted her to tell her my car wouldn't start and we'd be late, but she never replied."
"Do you think she went somewhere?" Twilight asked. "I don't think she's home."
"She might have gone for a late night walk." Adagio replied. "She does that a lot. That's how she found..." She trailed off. "I'm starting to think that we should go look for her. If she went out for a walk... well, that's not really safe these days."
"You're right." Twilight said. "Let's split up. Have your phones on in case we find her, or..."
"Need to call the police?" Aria asked, shivering.
"Lets not think about that." Twilight said. "We have to find her."
The three came up with a plan to search the suburban area. Adagio would patrol in her car, while Twilight would check down by the school, and Aria would head in the opposite direction, planning to go past each of her's, Adagio's, and Twilight's houses in case Sonata went looking for them as a result of their tardiness.
The three girls split up, calling out for Sonata every block or so, keeping their eyes peeled for their friend, or any danger.
Sonata's mind was blank. She felt as if she were drifting through a grey haze. There was nothing on her mind, nothing to think about, nothing to worry about. She relished in her retreat from reality. She didn't even feel the bitter wind, because it was a part of the outside world. Nothing from the outside could get to her here. She was safe.
Or so she thought.
Something strange started to happen to her. Reality was starting to seep through her mind's barriers. One moment she would be at peace, and the next she would be bombarded by sounds and visions and thoughts. So many racing thoughts. And then she would fade back into the silent nothingness of her mind. It was strange, the brevity of her waking, the fact that she was even waking in the first place.
Through the haze, she saw something. A flash of purple hair. Sonata almost recognized the owner of the hair, but her mind suddenly faded into emptiness again.
There it was again. Aria. What was she doing out here? It wasn't safe. Nothingness.
Aria was walking away from her. She must not have seen her yet. Sonata tried to call out to her, but the haze swept over her again.
There was someone behind Aria now. Sonata didn't know who it was. They were clad in a baggy hoodie, their back was turned to her, she couldn't see them. She tried to shout in warning to Aria, but her mind stole her words from her and buried her in it's grey depths.
Sonata could see them again, and she ran towards them, determined to catch them before she blanked out again. The unknown figure raised an arm. There was a glint as an object in their hand caught the light of a nearby streetlamp.
"STOP!" Sonata yelled, the word barely passing her lips before she was hit by another wave of nothingness.
She was woken by Aria's screams. Sonata saw her friend on the ground, shielding her face against her assailant with her arms, shouting for help. Sonata leapt into action and started running towards them again.
They were so far away. They were so, so far away, but she could see every detail. The fear and pain in Aria's eyes, the serrated edge of the knife in the murderer's hand, the drops of blood that ran down Aria's face, blending with her tears. Yet they were so far away. Surely Sonata couldn't reach them before...
The hooded figure was stabbing her. Aria's screams became gurgles. Sonata was getting so close. Aria made eye contact with her, her eyes shouting at her to save her. Sonata was almost there, she just had to...
Sonata was behind the assailant. She didn't hesitate to grab a handful of their sweater and yank them away from her injured friend. She spun the murderer around to see who it was, and saw....
Sonata was kneeling in a pool of blood, cradling Aria in her lap. Her friend was still alive, but they both knew it wouldn't be for long.
"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 opened her eyes. She was in a drab, dim room, surrounded by curtains. There was a smell in the air that she couldn't describe, but knew she didn't like. She sat up. All she could see was the plain white cot she was laying on, and the curtains pulled close around it. She set her bare feet on the cold tile floor and slowly stood up. She cautiously opened the curtain and peered out. She saw nothing but more curtains. She stepped out, becoming vaguely aware of the sounds around her. They sounded far away, but she knew she heard the sound of people talking, though she couldn't make out any of the individual voices or what they were saying.
She walked along the corridor of curtains, slowly. She was unsteady on her feet. Turning a corner, she spotted a door. The voices were getting louder now, though they were still muffled. She approached the door and reached for the handle, struggling to turn it and open the door. She pried it open and stepped out into a hallway. The voices became louder, but she still couldn't make out any voices. There were people walking around in the hallway. Most of them paid her no mind and stepped around her, clearly in a rush. Others stood along the wall talking quietly, some sat in chairs waiting, worried expressions on her face. Sonata looked around. The faces were blurry, she didn't recognize any of them.
"Hey, what are you doing out of bed? You aren't supposed to be out here!" The voice came from behind, suddenly clear to Sonata. She jumped and spun around to face the voice's owner, but her lack of coordination caused her to stumble, and she became dizzy from the fast movement.
"Oh dear, are you alright?" The voice asked. "Here, just sit down, okay?"
Sonata's noticed her vision start to blacken around the edges, and she suddenly fell unconscious.
"Sonata? Are you awake?"
Sonata opened her eyes, then blinked them shut against the harsh overhead lights.
"Oh, good. You're up. How are you feeling?"
Sonata slowly opened her eyes again, and stared up into the light above her. She tried to look around but her vision was blurry. "Where am I?" She asked.
"You're in a hospital. Don't worry, you're going to be perfectly fine." The voice said reassuringly.
"Are... are you a doctor?" Sonata asked, dazed.
"No, I'm a nurse." The voice replied. "My name is Redheart. I've been taking care of you for the past two weeks. Do you remember me at all?"
"No... Two weeks? I don't remember any of that... I was asleep that whole time?" Sonata asked, confused.
"You were in and out. We've talked a number of times."
"What happened to me?" Sonata's vision was starting to clear, and she was able to pick out the worried look on Redheart's face.
"Well... You became quite traumatized after witnessing something... rather nasty. You didn't respond to anyone or anything, so we kept you at the hospital to try and figure out how to help you. Every once in a while you would come to, but you'd go back to your state after we told you..." She trailed off, cautiously.
"Told me what?" Sonata asked.
"Well... I'm hesitant to tell you because I don't want to lose our progress a fifth time." Redheart said honestly. "But I'm hoping that maybe the presence of your friends might keep you from relapsing."
Sonata stared at her, confused.
"I'm sorry, I really shouldn't be saying any of this to you." Redheart sighed, clearly tired and a bit frustrated. "Let me get your friends, then we'll try this again."
Sonata pulled herself up and sat on the edge of her bed as Redheart stepped out and hailed her friends. Twilight and Adagio followed the nurse in, also donning concerned expressions.
"Hi guys." Sonata said, breaking the silence in the room. Her two friends gave her weak smiles.
"Hi Sonata." Twilight said kindly. "How are you feeling?"
"A little confused. Disoriented." Sonata replied. She looked at Redheart. "Do I get to know what's going on now?"
Redheart sighed and nodded. "Yes, I suppose so." She looked at the two girls she had lead in. "I guess I'll let you two take it from here."
Twilight nodded to Redheart and turned back to Sonata, biting her lip. "So... What's the last thing you remember?"
Sonata thought for a moment. "I'm... not really sure. I think the last solid thing I remember was..." She thought some more. "I'm not really sure. Everything is a blur."
Adagio and Twilight looked at each other. They seemed to be asking each other who should be the one to break the news. In their hesitation, Sonata realized something.
"Hey, where's Aria?" Sonata asked. "Is she in the hospital too? Were we in an accident? Tell me what's going on. I'm so confused."
Twilight bit her lip and sat down in a chair, facing Sonata. Adagio took a seat on the bed next to Sonata, and stared down at her feet.
Composing herself, Twilight looked up at Sonata. "Well, that's just the thing. We were hoping that you'd be able to shed some light on what happened to Aria."
Sonata blinked. What did that mean? "Is Aria missing?"
"Gone? You don't mean..." Sonata's eyes widened at the thought and she looked at Twilight, hoping that her newest friend would tell her that she was mistaken.
Unfortunately, Twilight nodded solemnly. "Aria died, Sonata." She said, sadly. "The police say that what happened to her is similar to what happened to the other victims of the serial killer. You remember the murders, right?"
"Murders?" Sonata whispered, her eyes staring straight through Twilight as her memory was jogged. That's right, there was a serial killer picking off students at Canterlot High. "So... So Aria was the fourth one?"
Twilight nodded. "Yeah." She took a deep breath in. "Sonata, on the night of the murder, the police... they found you there, with Aria's body. We were hoping that you'd be able to tell us what happened, and if you saw who did it."
Sonata didn't notice, but Redheart, who was standing off to the side observing, was nervously biting her fist. She was, like the many times before this one, that Sonata's lack of responsiveness would not be triggered once again by the memory of watching one of her best friends being brutally murdered.
The room was silent for a long time.
"Sonata?" Twilight asked, studying the girl's unseeing eyes carefully. Adagio waved a hand in front of Sonata's face. There was no response.
Redheart sighed deeply and massaged her temples. "Well girls, thanks for coming in and doing this. I thought maybe being with her friends would reduce the shock, but clearly it wasn't enough." She shook her head sadly. "I just hope she can recover, even if we can't get any answers from her."
"I didn't see who did it."
Redheart, Twilight, and Adagio turned to look at Sonata, who's eyes were concealed beneath her bangs as she stared down at her hands resting in her lap.
"I tried to stop them." She said. "But I couldn't get there. My mind just kept blanking and I couldn't get to Aria in time to help her."
Adagio put a hand on Sonata's shoulder, reassuringly. "It's okay, Sonata. You did everything you could have. And they'll catch whoever did this."
There was silence again.
"When is the funeral?" Sonata asked, her voice cracking.
Twilight and Adagio looked at each other.
"It... Was last week." Adagio said. "You were still out of it then. I'm sorry."
"Oh." Sonata replied.
There was a heavy pause, then Twilight spoke up. "We can take you to... visit her once you're better. If you want."
"Yeah." Sonata said. "I'd like that." She looked up at Redheart. "When can I go home?"
The nurse looked down at her clipboard, expecting to find an answer, but ultimately made a decision on the spot. "Well, I think I'll keep you one more night, but as long as you stay responsive during that time and everything is normal, I'll be happy to let you go home."
"We can stop by and drive you home, then." Adagio offered.
"That would be nice." Sonata said. She had a feeling she would be too tired to walk all the way home. The hospital was on the other side of town from her house.
Redheart looked at her watch, then at the two visitors. "Visiting hours are over in half an hour." She said. "But, I think this is a special case, so take as much time as you need. Just press the call button if you need anything."
Sonata sat in the cool grass, her legs crossed, her eyes idly passing over the inscription on the headstone that she had already memorized, but still didn't quite believe it. Aria Blaze was dead. Sonata sighed, and wished that she wasn't spending a Tuesday mourning her friend. She wished that it could be just like any other Tuesday, just once more. She would be the first one in the lunch line at school, and Aria and Adagio would roll their eyes at what lengths she would go to in order to get her tacos before anyone else did. Sometimes her two friends would trail behind her apologizing and doing damage control with the students that Sonata rushed by, and sometimes inadvertently shoved into lockers. But those wonderful Tuesdays were gone forever now. Sonata wasn't even sure if she could enjoy another taco without one of her best friends to share them with.
"Hey Sonata."
Sonata didn't even start at the sudden voice behind her. She slowly turned to acknowledge her visitor. "Hey Twilight." Her voice was weak. She hadn't much energy since leaving the hospital.
Twilight sat down beside her and started idly plucking blades of grass, then carefully tearing them apart, seeing how many times she could half a blade of grass along it's length. "You really miss her, don't you?"
"Of course." Sonata replied quickly, but it wasn't malicious in any way. She sighed. "Aria and Adagio and I have been best friends since kindergarten. We were going to graduate together, and go to the same university, and be best friends forever. And now one of us has been... erased. By some sick monster."
There was a silence before Sonata asked, "why would anyone do such a thing? What would anyone have to gain from randomly murdering high school kids?"
"I don't know." Twilight answered, honestly. "I wish I did."
"What are you doing out here anyways?" Sonata asked. "I've never known Twilight Sparkle to ever skip class."
"Well, I was worried about you." Twilight replied. "I've never known Sonata Dusk to miss Taco Tuesday."
Sonata cringed, and Twilight gave her an apologetic look before returning to carefully shredding the grass in front of her. The two girls sat in silence for a long time, listening to the breeze rustle the leaves of the trees planted around the cemetery and the scratchy rumble of cars rolling by.
Sonata got up, breaking the silence. "I'm going to go back home and get some rest. I'm still kind of feeling off from those weeks in the hospital. You should go back to class."
"Alright." Twilight agreed, not bothering to offer to walk Sonata home when her friend so clearly wanted to be alone. "Get some rest. I hope you feel better soon." She said as she got up herself and started back towards the school. "And remember to eat something!" She called over her shoulder.
"I will." Sonata called back, heading in the opposite direction. When she got to the intersection, she took a left instead of heading straight, the direction of her house. It was a lovely sunny afternoon, and she felt like taking the scenic route home.
Adagio left school after lunch time. She had sat alone in the cafeteria that day. Since Aria died and Sonata had been admitted to hospital, she had been joining Twilight and her friends at lunch. But today, the Rainbooms had lunch-hour band rehearsal, and Twilight was nowhere to be found. Getting tired of the pitying glances the other students gave her when they thought she wasn't looking, she decided to skip the remainder of her day's classes and go for a walk around her favourite park.
When she entered the park, she smiled. The park was entirely empty at the moment, she had the place to herself. She walked over to the swingset and sat facing the pond, which sparkled in the sun, the glare almost too bright for her to look at. After a few minutes, she decided to go down the edge of the pond and skip rocks across it. The activity was bittersweet. Out of her trio of friends, Aria was always the best at skipping rocks, no doubt about it. She won every competition they had. Adagio tossed a rock and counted.
One... Two... Three... Four...
Four skips was her average throw. Her record was six, but Aria's was ten. She would miss skipping rocks with Aria, but at least the activity would bring back good memories of her late friend. She threw again.
One... Two... Three...
She knew she could do better. She imagined Aria standing behind her, lecturing her about proper stance, technique. Even how to pick the perfect rock.
One... Two... Three... Four... Five...
A better throw. Adagio always did better with Aria walking her through the process. She hoped to break her personal record today, and make Aria proud.
Sonata wandered mindlessly. She let herself zone out, and wasn't watching where she was going, nor was she paying any attention at all to her route. But something strange caught her attention. It wasn't a sound, or a smell, or even rough terrain. She just had a feeling, and looked up. There, across the park, was a familiar head of hair, skipping rocks across the pond. She stopped midstep, wondering if she should enter the park and visit her friend. She didn't really want to. She wanted some alone time. She was about to turn away and continue along her way, when something else caught her eye.
A hooded figure, not unlike the ones that she had witnessed murdering her friends. But it was the middle of the day, broad daylight. They couldn't possibly be targeting Adagio right now. It would be too risky, even for them. Sonata was about to dismiss the figure, when she saw them approach Adagio.
Suddenly, Sonata was sitting in a dark alley, the cold pavement hard against her knees as she cradled Aria, the unmoving dull eyes of her friend staring blankly up at her.
Sonata shivered and shook her head, returning her attention to Adagio and the stranger. They were talking to each other. Sonata was too far away to see who was beneath the hood, but Adagio seemed to have recognized them. Sonata figured that she was overreacting. It was probably just someone who was also skipping class that day.
She started to walk away again, ready to tune out the world once more. But before she could relax into nothingness, she heard a shout.
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.
"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.
