Personal Demons: Pictures of the Past

Suddenly, the large church door shook and voices came from outside. I glared at the door and pushed Mimiru behind me, “They're here…” I said quietly, knowing that it could not be a friendly knock that shook the foyer.

Mimiru ran to the back of the church and opened the door to the confessional. She motioned for me to enter.

I glanced back at the church doors, watching as the locks gave way. I then backed towards Mimiru, careful not to take my eyes off the entrance of the church, waiting for them to finally break through. Mimiru pulled me in the confessional and shut the door tight.

I heard her gasping for breath as she fumbled around. It was pitch black, so I couldn't see barely anything, only the glint in her eyes when she looked up. Just then, a light flashed and my eyes burned when Mimiru pulled out her lighter. She directed its light to the wall, moving it so as to see something on the wall, “There used to be catacombs somewhere in this church…the entrance is supposed to be in here somewhere…”

I placed my hands on the wall, feeling for a crack that could be the edge of a door or something. I felt nothing but the smooth velvet for a long time. Finally, my hand ran across a seam in the material. I dug under it as best I could, got a grip on the edge of the material, and pulled it to the side.

Mimiru lit her lighter again, revealing a small door, barely big enough for any adult to fit through. As swiftly as we could, we crawled through, into a large hallway with small lamps on the walls. The lamps came on automatically when we entered.

I carefully turned and concealed the doorway with the velvet cloth and turned to Mimiru while she put her lighter back in her pocket. She looked up at me and smiled. I grinned back and took her hand, leading her down the hallway, brushing away the cobwebs, “So, how did you know about this place?”

“I hung out here, in the church when my dad was a reverend. He showed me everything.” She smiled, “Guess we got lucky, huh?”

I nodded, “I remember that…but then he left town for a while, came back, and had been replaced during his absence, right?”

“Yup,” she laughed, “he was so mad!”

We crept through the hall, which grew increasingly humid.

“Um…Mimiru?” I shivered, leaning closer to her, “exactly how far underground are we?”

Mimiru kept walking, staring straight ahead, “These catacombs lead into the woods outside of town…they go under all the pipes and subways…so yeah…they're really deep.”

“Uh…huh…” I looked up at the dank ceiling looming above us. Pipes; probably water pipes ran across the ceiling, next to the hung lanterns.

Mimiru looked back at me and stopped, gently placing her hand on my left shoulder, “Are you scared?” she smirked mischievously, “Don't worry. I don't think there are any monsters down here.”

I gulped. Just the thought of monsters was making my heart pound as if it were trying to escape my chest.

Finally, a ladder appeared at the end of the dark hall. It was rusty and weak looking. Mimiru wrapped her fingers around the bars and shook the ladder violently. It rattled, but to my surprise, seemed exceptionally sturdy. Mimiru nodded in satisfaction, lifting herself onto the ladder. She climbed a little, and as I got on after her, she looked down at me and grinned, “Don't you even think about looking up my skirt, Sassi.”

I flushed, “What's to look at? There's nothing interesting up there.” I joked.

Mimiru began climbing again, laughing, “Watch yourself, Sassi; it sounds like you're coming out to me right now, which, under the circumstance, would be pretty weird.”

I couldn't help but laugh. Mimiru was always making jokes like that about me.

Finally, we reached the top of the ladder. Mimiru pushed up the cover, revealing clumps of trees looming far over our heads. We clamored out, unaware of our own footsteps.

I gasped in amazement; the forest seemed so pure, unaffected by the events in town. I shook Mimiru's shoulder, “Uhh…Kazuma…why are we here again?”

Kazuma grasped my hand tightly, “Our old clubhouse…the one your mom helped us build…it's in these woods. We can hide there until we figure out what to do.”

I shuddered and started walking forward, unsure if I was even going in the right direction. We walked for what seemed like an eternity, the woods stood eerily silent. I couldn't help but blush when I notice that Kazuma was still holding my hand snugly. I never wanted to let go…but the time came: we approached the clubhouse slowly. It looked just like we left it. It was strange, almost as if it had been waiting for us to return.

It loomed over us in the old oak tree that it was built in, moss growing on the outside walls. Mimiru climbed the staircase up to the door on the side and gave it a hard shove, sending dust flying everywhere. I came up behind her and gaped in shock.

Everything was exactly like we left it on the inside too; playing cards were laid out, still in a deck and two hands for Blackjack, the lamp's switch was still in the on position, and crayons, paper, and old drawings were still sitting on the desk.

Mimiru covered her mouth as if she were about to cry, “Oh…Sassi…look at this…” she kneeled down and picked up one of the drawings. It was covered in dust.

My stomach churned and I doubled over, falling to my knees. The picture, though you could hardly see it through the dust, was of my mother, Mimiru, my dad, and me…The art was unmistakable; mom drew this.

Mimiru put down the picture and rushed to my side, “Sassi,” she ran her fingers through my hair and pulled me onto her lap as tears streamed down her cheeks, “I'm so sorry…please…I didn't mean to…”

I cut her off, “That was the last time you saw her…wasn't it?” I remembered the summer we spent here, in these woods, camping out together…like a family…

Mimiru held me close, “Yes…she was so happy…no one ever cared for me…like she did…” She kissed the top of my head gently, “No one…except for you, Tsukasa…”

I looked up at her slowly, “You-you called me…”

“Tsukasa…” She pulled me as close she could and held on tight, “Don't ever leave me, Tsukasa…I can't bear to lose both of you…” her voice became shrill, “Don't leave me…”

I sat up to the best of my ability and wrapped my arms around her waist, “I'm not going to leave you, Kazuma. I'm never going to leave you.”

I blinked, trying to focus on the ceiling above me. I sat up and looked outside. We did it; we survived the whole night and the aliens hadn't come for us yet. Joyfully, I turned to where Kazuma was sleeping, “Mimiru, look!” I gasped, staring into two bright red eyes.