-

It had been a while since the last time she visited the music store, but Aria needed a new set of headphones after her old set had finally bit the dust. While she was certain that most of the headsets she found would definitely fit onto her like a glove, the colors were completely dull, only featuring shades of black and grey. She honestly would have preferred something in purple or green.

“Screw it,” she said to herself and finally picked one from the racket. Turning her attention towards the far left of the store, she made her way there to see if there was anything else she would like to get; probably a new CD of one of her favorite bands.

Fortunately for her, she did find something nice to get. One of her favorite bands has just released their latest album, and it wasn’t expensive enough for her budget to afford. She picked it up and held it in the same hand as her new set of headphones, ready to buy them and get out of here.

But then the hairs on the back of her neck rose up and a sudden chill ran down her spine. She was surprised, but also concerned by the sudden sensation. She didn’t know how or why, but somehow she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being… watched.

She turned around to look at everyone in the store, who were all busy doing their own things. None of them looked suspicious. It was enough to put her at ease for now. She scoffed and went to the register to pay for her stuff, getting it done quickly with no problems, and finally she was on her way out of the store.

Her cell-phone buzzed in her pocket, no doubt a call from Sonata. Pulling it out and flipping it open to find a text message to her from the silly siren girl asking her how she’s doing and if she got what she went out looking for. She replied with a yes, and then told them that she’ll be getting something to eat before she heads home, to which Sonata replied if she could get her some tacos on the way back, promising to pay her back.

Aria didn’t shrugged or groan or anything like she would usually do. For once, she honestly didn’t mind doing something for Sonata, now that they are together. Finishing up her text response, she closed her phone and put it back in her pocket. Suddenly her body shivered again, that uncomfortable feeling returning. She immediately looked behind her, and then to her sides to see who could possibly be watching her; still there was no one around who looked in anyway suspicious. It was just a bunch of humans minding their own business and going about their day.

“Wise-ass, huh?” she said under her breath and then took of walking down the sidewalk towards the nearest fast-food restaurant that had tacos on their menu. It was only moderately cloudy out, her personally favorite kind of weather. Not too gloomy with an overwhelming number of clouds and not too sunny with bright rays glaring down on her either.

Her ears twitched when she heard the sound of footsteps behind her, a little too close for comfort. There was no doubt left in her mind; she was definitely being watched earlier, and now she’s being followed. She immediately turned to look back behind her, but to her surprise, there was no one there. She didn’t felt any better, knowing that there had to be someone following her. She quickened her pace, her gaze never leaving from her back, hoping that she could put some distance between her and her mysterious stalker.

Surely she saw no one coming out of any kind of hiding place as she moved further and further away from the music store. Her focus was soon cut off when she unknowingly walked into public trash-bin and nearly tripped. She nearly cursed from the sudden pain in her knee before she felt that presence again. However, instead of feeling uncomfortable, the pain in her knee was making her blood boil with anger and irritation.

“Alright, come out here right now, you punk! I know you’re hiding and stalking me, so get lost or else I’m going to mess you up!”

A figure came walking out of the alley that Aria had just passed, confirming her suspicions that she was indeed being followed. The person’s slim body didn’t make them look all that intimidating to Aria, but once the person’s hood was pulled back, her tough-girl act instantly vanished; there was no one else in this town that had that same overconfident smirk, those alluring eyes, and that massive hairdo as she did.

“Adagio?! What are you doing here?!” Aria asked aloud, her expression utterly confused.

“Surprised?” Adagio asked, giving Aria a little friendly smirk as she walked up to her.

“Duh,” Aria retort. Her mind was trying to make sense of the situation. “Why are you following me like this? You couldn’t just come out on your own? You really had to hide yourself in a hood?”

“Well, I had to make sure where you usually hang out. If I had come as myself, you would be more on edge in my presence,” Adagio cooked up an excuse, and Aria knew it was a half-assed excuse.

“I’m already on edge now, Adagio,”

“Well let me put you at ease then,” Adagio stood closer to the other siren. Aria could feel her boss’ hair tickling against her arm and back as she was getting really close against her, which made her feel uncomfortable.

‘Why is Adagio acting so… friendly to me?’

“Come on, let’s go hang out at Darksquare Corners. You know you love that place,” Aria felt Adagio’s arm wrapped around her own.

“How do you know I like to hang out at Darksquare Corners? I don’t tell you or Sonata where I like to hang out,” Aria asked, shocked at what she heard her leader said. She does not like a single second of this.

“Well, I have to know where you hang out daily so that we can spend more time together. You know, like we suppose to days ago…” Adagio said in a paradoxical mix of affection and bitterness in her voice, if that was even possible.

Aria’s eyes widened at the implications. ‘Has she been following me all day? But I haven’t been to Darksquare Corners today yet. Did she do this before? How long has she been doing this for?!’

That cold shiver was back and was making her blood run cold and her skin forming goose bumps. She doesn’t want to be here anymore. Somehow she feels like she should get away from Adagio. Right now…

“I-I would like to, Adagio. But I’m suppose to pick up something for Sonata, so I should just be going now,” she attempted to walk away from the other woman, but Adagio’s arm held onto her.

“Forget about Sonata, Aria. For now, just let today be all about us, like it was suppose to those days ago,” Adagio insisted as her grip around Aria’s arm grew tighter.

‘Is she still on that?’ Aria asked herself. She was now starting to get worried.

She felt her cell-phone buzz in her pocket again. She quickly pulled it out with her free hand and opened. “I’ve got a message from Sonata, so I should take this and…”

Aria was cut off from feeling a sudden swipe coming over her hand and noticed that her cell-phone was gone the next second. She looked back at Adagio to find her looking down at her open cell-phone with a surprisingly cold and bitter look on her face.

“H-Hey!” Aria cried and tried to grab her phone back, but Adagio pulled it away from her reach.

“I’ll give it back by the end of the day. For now, you won’t be needing it,” the golden-haired siren remarked and stuffed Aria’s phone into her pocket. “Come on; let’s go hang out at your favorite place,”

Aria felt her arm being tugged as Adagio led the way across the street in the opposite direction of where she was suppose to be going. “Adagio…”

“It’s not going to kill you, Aria,”

-

“Where is it?!” Aria asked out loud to herself, even though she knew nor expected anyone to give her an answer. A few days have passed since her unexpected hang out with Adagio. But ever since then, she did not return her cell-phone like she said she would, so now she’s been searching the house for it.

“Damn it, Adagio,” she cursed under her breath. Why did she have to be like that the other day? Was she that desperate to hang out with her? It’s so unlike her. She threw her hands up and fell down on the couch. She looked in about every single place she suspected she would look. It wasn’t in her room, or in the kitchen, or in the living room, or in Sonata’s room. She even checked through the laundry in case Adagio left it in the pocket of her pants and didn’t find it there. All that was left was…

“Adagio’s room,” Aria spoke ominously and looked up at the ceiling. It couldn’t hurt to take a quick peek; Adagio was out of the house right now, so she can easily go in, look around, and get back out before she returns.

Before she knew it, she was already on her feet and making her way down the hallway. She checked the doorknob to see if it was lock, and was relieved to feel it turning all the way in her grip. She was greeted by a fresh scent when she entered the room, one that smelled like peaches and autumn. She quickly shook her head, knowing that she had no time to be enjoying the scent, and immediately went around the place, checking every drawer and box for her phone until she finally found it stored underneath Adagio’s bed. She was hesitant to hold it close to her chest, happy to finally have it back in her possession again, but remembered that Sonata had left a message on it before Adagio took it away from her those days ago. She flipped it open, figuring that she might as well read it and reply.

“What the hell?” Aria asked confused. The message that Sonata sent her before was gone-no, all of her messages were gone! She scrolled through her history, but there was not single text message from Sonata. Her messages, her pictures, even her own number: they were all gone. Even Aria’s own number has been changed!

“What the fuck did she do to my phone?!”

She then noticed something out from under her foot. It was a photo of her, with another one next to it. Curiosity getting the better of her again, she kneeled down and look under Adagio’s bed, finding an open box right where she found her phone. Her fingers slowly pulled the lid up to find it filled with photos-photos of her.

She was understandably creeped out by this, but something compelled her to look through them all. The photos featured her in different places, in different situations, doing many different things. ‘She really has been stalking me these past few days. But why isn’t Sonata in here?’

Some of the pictures in the box were group pictures of the three of them together doing various things, and yet Sonata was not in any of them. No, she was indeed in these pictures, but she had been removed. The pictures were not whole; parts of them were cut out crudely by a pair of scissors.

Parts that contained Sonata in them.

-

A few days have passed, and it was night time. Each of the Dazzlings are sleeping soundly in their rooms. Aria’s chest rose and descend from every breath she inhaled, content in her bed, dreaming of many things.

But that peaceful rest was not to last.

Her eyes shot open from a creaking sound coming from the far end of her room. Her eyes trailed to her left to find her door slowly creaking open, revealing pitch darkness on the other side. An air of dread filled the room as Aria’s eyes were glued onto the door, her hairs standing on end again. She knew for a fact that she had that door fully closed, which only meant one horrifying thing.

‘Is she there?’

She opened the desk drawer on her right and pulled out her pocket knife, wanting to make sure she had something to protect herself. Their magic was useless against each other, a fact that she hated, because it made her feel as powerless as any human who would fall under their spell. Despite her better judgment, she got out of bed and slowly made her way to the door, still holding the pocket knife in her hand.

“Hello?” she asked, trying to see who’s on the other side. She still couldn’t see anything but pure darkness, which only made her feel more nervous. A part of her really hoped it was just nothing, but she also couldn’t deny that she kept the door fully shut earlier and knew it wasn’t likely to open unless it was done by someone else. She swallowed her spit and tried asking again. “Hello?”

Her questioned was answered with an exhaled breath of air from the other side.

Aria’s eyes widened in terror as dread filled every fiber of her being. She immediately slammed the door shut, not caring about the loud noise that followed in the slightest, and locked it tight. She stepped far away as she could until she felt her bed again. Expecting there to be either a loud banging on the door, or the knob being shook furiously, she held the knife closer to herself, but nothing happened.

Silence fell upon the room again, aside from Aria’s deep breathing. No matter what happens, her eyes never left the door. She couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night.

-

Adagio stood silently in the kitchen, watching Aria in the living room from the open hole in the wall that separated the two rooms. Her gaze never left the other siren, watching every move she made, only blinking when she felt she had to. When she had noticed before that Aria was starting to feel drained during these past few weeks, she had toned down some of her antics to prevent herself from pushing the abrasive girl over the edge.

But now that Sonata was out doing the day shift at her job, that left her and Aria home alone together; it was the perfect opportunity for her to make her move again, to win Aria’s affection.

She slowly stepped out of the kitchen, holding a pair of drinks in her hands, and walked on over towards the couch where Aria sat in watching the news. It didn’t take long for the other girl to notice her presence. “Here, I’ve brought you something,” Adagio set the drink on the table in front of Aria, but noticed her not responding to her. In fact, she was looking in the opposite direction of her, as if she was actively trying to ignore her.

“Hey,” she spoke again, but Aria was still silent. “Aria, I’m talking to you. Look at me.”

“What?” Aria blurted out, still not looking at Adagio.

The leader siren didn’t like her attitude, despite her expecting the girl to be like this, but still managed to keep her cool. “Well, since it’s just you and me here today, I figured that we do something together again, like last-”

“No!” Aria answered abruptly.

“Excuse me?” Adagio asked, her left eye twitching from being cut off. If she talked to her again like that one more time…

“I don’t want anything to do with you,” spoke the bitter siren, tiredness and resentment in her voice. It was starting to rub Adagio the wrong way, but alas she still kept calm and collected.

“What do you mean?” Adagio questioned her comrade, drumming her fingers in her lap impatiently. “You didn’t object to this the first time.”

Aria gritted her teeth. “That was before I found out how fucked up you are!” Adagio’s face twitched again. “You’ve stalked me for who knows how many days, you took my phone and didn’t give it back, and when I finally found it under your bed you have deleted everything I received from Sonata! And don’t you even dare deny that you’ve been standing outside my room at night. I’ve lost full nights of sleep because of this lunacy, Adagio! You’ve become obsessed with me, and I’m sick of it!”

There was no use in denying it; Aria had already figured Adagio out, but even then, out of some misplaced sense of determination, she wasn’t going to give her up. “Obsession, isn’t it? But isn’t that what all love is like, Aria?”

Aria’s eye widened in surprise. “L-Love?”

Suddenly she felt Adagio’s hands grabbing hold of her shoulder and her chin as she was forced to turn around and look at the other woman in the eye. She was caught off guard from seeing her leader’s contorted face mere inches from her own, glaring at her with hungry eyes like a predator. It was if Adagio had finally thrown away that mask of dignity and sultry elegance she wore their entire lives and has revealed the megalomaniac she really was.

“Of course it is, you fool! I’ve been madly in love with you this whole time and you never once noticed it?!” Adagio raised her voice, making sure that Aria was listening to her, her hands gripped onto her shoulder and chin to stop her from looking away again. “Everything that I’ve done I have done it for you, Aria!”

“But I’m with Sonata now!” Aria raised her voice in return, hoping it would reach Adagio, but instead it only her more angry.

“Why her? What does that idiot have that I don’t have?” Adagio’s grip was tightening on Aria now. “Why did you have to choose Sonata? Why be with her when you can be with me?!”

Aria found the other’s grip on her chin was making it difficult for her speak. “Because I don’t love you, Adagio! That’s the truth, now let go of me!”

“Bullshit!” Both of her hands were gripped onto Aria’s face. “No one in this world can resist me! Everybody adores me, Aria! You will adore me!”

“No, I don’t!” Aria had enough of this insanity and pushed Adagio back, freeing herself from her grasp and stood up from the couch. “You don’t own me, and I’ve had enough of this fucked up behavior from you!”

She turned in attempt to leave the house. Adagio only glared at her. “Get back here!”

“Fuck you!” Aria marched her way towards the front door, wanting to get away from that psychotic nutcase as soon as possible. But then she felt Adagio grabbing her shoulders from behind in attempt to stop her, but Aria wasn’t having it. She immediately turned around and pushed Adagio again, this time with enough force that she fell to the floor on her back. “Enough! I’m with Sonata now, Adagio, and that’s how it’s going to be! I’m never going to be with someone like you!”

Adagio could only watch as Aria threw the front door opened and slam it shut behind her, disappearing from her sights. Silence filled the room, but there was no sense of peace or tranquility to be felt.

So many emotions were toiling inside Adagio’s brain like a wild maelstrom. All of her anger, frustration, sadness, shock, anxiety, desire, obsession, and love have clashed and erupted into one loud agonizingly furious scream as whatever ounce of clarity the siren had left was swallowed by the darkness of her own insanity.

-

Sonata Dusk could see their house just around the corner. Her shift was over so now she was free to head on home. The sun had almost completely set, and while she wasn’t completely drained from work, she was certainly less hyper than how she normally was. Not only that, but she had received a text message from Aria earlier that she’ll be out herself to get some fresh air, and to be wary of Adagio. Sonata had no idea what Aria meant by it, and wondered if the two had a fight earlier. Whatever the case, the cheeky lady hoped it would blow over quick after a good night supper since it was her turn to cook tonight.

Eventually she reached the front of her house, then the front door, opening it up and kicking her shoes off. “I’m home!” she called out to only be met with silence, a common response she would often receive. However, she did noticed Adagio standing in the kitchen doing something. She figured that she could speak to Adagio and help find a way for her and Aria to make up from whatever happened while she was gone.

“Oh, Adagio~?” she chirped, poking her head out from around the corner to find her leader standing by the counter with an open carton of Aria’s favorite fruit juice, and a box of pills. She was fidgeting one pill with her fingers to break it open and pour its substance into the carton. Sonata narrowed her eyes towards the box of pills, and then widened in shock to find them to be sleeping pills!

“Um, Adagio?” Sonata spoke again, getting Adagio’s attention this time as the leader Dazzling turned her head to look at her. An air of fear and dread fell upon her when she looked into Adagio’s eyes, her sclera red with veins as if she hadn’t sleep for days and her iris and pupils bore a dull shade of their former color, as if all life had been drained her being and was now soulless drone.

“Ah, Sonata, just the girl I’ve been wanting speak to,” Adagio spoke in her usual calm, sultry voice, which was normal for Sonata, except for the lifeless look in her eyes. Sonata’s eyes were still focused on the box of pills next to the woman.

“Adagio, what are you doing with those pills? And what are you doing with Aria’s juice? Only she ever drinks that flavor,” Sonata asked, starting to feel worried about all of this.

“Indeed, and she always drinks a cup from it whenever she comes home in the evening,” Adagio answered as she snapped another pill, emptying its contents into the carton.

“A-Are you trying to put her to sleep?”

“Yes, I am,” she continued, still speaking in that usual and yet strangely creepy tone of hers. “She’s been losing some sleep during these past few days, and I’m going to take care of it for her.”

“But why the whole carton?” Sonata pressed further, but the gasped when Adagio gave her an unsettling look, one that was more stern and aloof. She watched her set the pills aside and turned fully to face her before taking a step towards her. Sonata felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, her body shivering as if her blood had turned to ice. She took a step back or two as Adagio came closer to her until she felt her back pressed up against the wall; she felt like a trapped animal before the other siren.

“Sonata, let me ask you something,” Adagio stood uncomfortably close to Sonata, her arms pressed against the kitchen wall on either side of Sonata’s head, forcing the girl to look at her in the eye. “If you love someone, would you be willing do anything for them?”

“A-Anything?” Sonata gulped.

“Even if it hurts you both in any way?” Adagio stared at her unfettered.

“M-Maybe, but I don’t know what you mean by that,”

“Break up with her,” Adagio whispered. Her words were like poison.

“W-What?” Sonata asked, confused and frightened at the same time.

“Break up with Aria,” Adagio spoke more clearly, her lips spreading into a malevolent grin. “She is sick, and it’s your fault, Sonata. She’s been suffering for weeks now and you never bothered to help her. I bet that you haven’t even noticed it!”

Her raised voice was starting to scare Sonata. “B-But she can’t be sick. She would’ve told me if she was,”

“Aria is someone who likes to keep secrets from everyone. Only the most devout person has to know everything about her to know what she’s feeling. Do you think she deserves to be with someone like you, who is too clueless and in your own little world, who can’t even noticed what she’s going through?” Adagio spoke louder, almost bordering on the edge of yelling into Sonata’s face, but then she quickly calmed down before finishing the rest of her words. “Give me Aria, Sonata. I can take care of her; she deserves to be with someone who will always be watching over her. Come on, Sonata. Do it for Aria…”

Sonata’s eyes trailed down to the floor, feeling at a lost for words. Was it true, she kept asking herself, wondering if she was indeed responsible for Aria’s suffering? Was Adagio even telling the truth? “I…” she tried thinking of something to say. Adagio leaned in a bit more to get a full ear of what she wanted to say. “I… can’t.”

“What?” Adagio responded, her tone running flat.

“I can’t, Adagio,” Sonata lifted her head to look at her leader in the eye. “I love Aria too much to do something like that to her. I don’t know what she’s been going through, and maybe I have failed to notice it; after all, I’m the worst, as she often likes to say. But now that I do know, I’m going to do whatever I can to help her. If she really is suffering, then I would be the worst girlfriend if I just left her when she needs me. I’m sorry, Adagio, but I can’t break up with Aria.”

Silence fell between the two women, aside from the clock ticking its hands to show the passage of time. Adagio just stood there, her mind comprehending what was said to her, and Sonata contemplating on what her leader was going to do now.

Eventually the silence broke when Adagio removed her hands from the wall and stepped back, turning her back towards Sonata. “So this is how it has to be then…”

“Huh…?” Sonata asked, unsure of what she meant by that. She only watched Adagio walked across the kitchen into the laundry room. “Adagio?”

“You could’ve just done what I told you to and broke up with her, Sonata,” Adagio spoke out from the laundry room, reaching for something that Sonata could not see. “But instead you chose to continue making Aria’s life miserable for her. So now…”

Adagio stepped out of the laundry room and back into the kitchen, holding a long item in her head. She grabbed hold of the handle and pulled the rest of it out of its sheath, light reflecting off the blade and into Sonata’s eyes.

Adagio Dazzle was holding a machete.

“… I cannot let you live anymore.”

A gasped escaped Sonata’s mouth as she saw Adagio suddenly sprinted towards her, holding the machete up high, hungry for blood-her blood.

She cried, instincts kicking in, making her jump to the side and out of the blade’s range and hearing it cut into the wall with a loud ‘THWACK!’

She took off running towards her room, hoping to put as much distance between her and her mad leader as possible. She knew she couldn’t make a run for the door, as easy it could be, because the gap between it and the kitchen was too short and Adagio would’ve quickly gotten her before she would even take a single step outside. Hiding in her room instead, locking it from the other side, would buy her some time to allow her to sneak out of the house from her bedroom window.

Before she knew it, she was at her door, pulling it open as fast she could. Dashing her way in and turning around to shut it tight and lock it, but then she felt something slammed against the door, hearing another loud ‘THWACK!’ and an opposing force pushing against her from the other side. The machete was lodged into the door’s edge, preventing Sonata from being able to fully close it, as she saw Adagio’s shadow struggling from the other side. ‘How could she be so fast?!’

“Open the door, Sonata!” Adagio yelled, pushing herself against the door, her hand gripping the knob.

“No!” Sonata cried, using all of her strength to hold the door in place. “I don’t wanna die!”

“It’s too late for that!” Adagio slammed herself against the door. “No one can have her except me! You’re just a poison to her, Sonata!” She raised her foot up and shoved it hard against the door with enough force to push Sonata back to enter the room. Her murderous gaze narrowed towards Sonata’s cell-phone which she had pulled out a second ago. “Give me that!”

Sonata ran around to the side of her bed away from Adagio, crying “No!” repeatedly as tears easily formed in her eyes, as the bloodthirsty fiend that is Adagio Dazzle charges at her again, machete in hand. She swung it down towards Sonata, but the girl leaped over across her bed, avoiding the blade again and hearing it in cut into her bed sheets. Immediately she was back on her feet and rushed towards her door again, attempting to escape; her initial plan has failed now that Adagio is in the room with her.

She moved her hand out towards the knob to grab it and the pull it open. Just a few more inches left…

A blade swung down in front of her, and within the next second, her hand was gone.

A fiery pain erupted from her wrist as blood poured and dripped from it immensely, and when realizing over what just happened, Sonata fell to her knees and let out a most unimaginable, agonizing scream. She grabbed hold of her wrist with her remaining hand in attempt to keep it from bleeding anymore, but it felt like it wasn’t working. She couldn’t do or think of anything but the pain. “MY ARM! IT HURTS!”

Adagio pushed Sonata over on her back and sat on top of her, pinning her down so that she couldn’t get away. She grabbed hold of her cell-phone, flipping it open and then bending it in the opposite direction until it snapped in two. “You can’t call anyone to help you now!”

“Dagi, please…” Sonata sobbed as she looked up at the other siren. “Don’t do this.”

Adagio didn’t flinch from the girl’s helpless state. “I bet you enjoyed holding hands with Aria with that hand of yours, don’t you? Well then, I’m going to make you sure you can’t even hug her!” she raised her machete up above her head, her face distorted into the most evil and maniacal grin she had ever put on before in her life.

Sonata panicked and struggled. “Adagio, no! NO!”

Somehow, she was able to usher enough strength to roll herself over onto her front, but it wasn’t enough to escape from Adagio’s blade. Sonata screamed again, feeling the blade dug into the shoulder of the arm that no longer had a hand. She cried and pleaded for her to stop. She wanted to believe that this was a nightmare, that it wasn’t happening, but the pain spoke for itself. This was really happening. ‘I really am going to die…’

Sonata felt the blade yanked from her shoulder, prompting another painful grunt from her, but now she couldn’t see what was happening. Where was Adagio going to hit her this time? All she could was shut her eyes and wait for her inevitable demise…

But it didn’t happened; instead, she heard the sound of footsteps enter the room, then suddenly the shattering of glass, and finally feel Adagio fell down on top of her. The psychotic woman was now motionless. Next she felt Dazzle being pulled off of her, seeing her be dropped down next to her. And last, she felt herself being turned over and lifted up slightly, finally able to see who it was that saved her.

“Aria?” Sonata asked, recognizing the familiar girl from anywhere. More tears welled up in her eyes, no longer able to contain them. “Aria!” she flung her other arm around Aria’s shoulder in attempt to hug her as she let out everything in one sob.

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t here,” Aria hugged her back, rocking her gently as she tried to hold back her own tears.

“I thought I was going to die,” Sonata cried, her throat practically thrown out by now, but she did not care. “How… how could this happen? Why?”

“I don’t know,” Aria looked down regretfully. “All I know is that Adagio was obsessed with me. But to take it this far…? Damn it… Damn it! Fuck!”

“H-How did you know?” Sonata asked, looking over at the unconscious Adagio Dazzle.

Aria looked at her too, but with disgust, before focusing back on Sonata. “I saw your shoes when I came home and the sleeping pills in the kitchen next to my juice, then I knew what she was trying to do,”

“We have to get out of here,” Sonata tried to move, but stopped when she felt a painful jolt in her shoulder. “GAAH!”

“Don’t move, I-” Aria was cut off when she felt something warm and wet on her front. Looking down, she found Sonata’s blood smeared across her corset and sleeveless shirt, and then turned around to find her lover’s severed hand by the door. She put a hand to her mouth in shock and disgust, feeling like she was going to vomit at any moment. “Oh, no…”

“We can’t stay here anymore, Aria. We have to go,” Sonata said weakly. She started to feel cold and it was becoming hard for her to breathe.

Aria lifted Sonata right-side up and laid her against the foot of her bed. “Don’t move, I’ll be right back,” she got up and bolted out of the room, and then quickly came back with a towel in hand. Neither of them said anything as Aria covered Sonata’s severed wrist with the towel, wrapping and tying it up so that it stays on to prevent anymore blood from getting out. Aria knew her cell-phone was dead, cursing herself for neglecting to charge it earlier, and found Sonata’s phone broken in two, and who knows what else Adagio may have done with the place that she couldn’t bare to stay another minute in this dreadful house that use to be their home.

Making sure the towel was tight and firm around Sonata’s arm, she helped her up, putting her other arm over and around her shoulder and helped her out of the room, and eventually to the front door and finally out of the house.

But back in Sonata’s bedroom, Adagio stirred before regaining consciousness, putting a hand to her head to ease the throbbing pain in her skull. Observing her surroundings, she found that Sonata was nowhere to be seen, but she did found broken pieces of an empty bottle, no doubt the instrument that knocked her out, and a blood trail leading out down the hallway.

She slowly got back up and walked towards her room. Opening up her closet and ignoring the secret altar dedicated to everything about Aria, she pulled out a hidden medical kit and opened it up, revealing a single syringe and a small bottle of tranquilizer.

-

They ran-or rather, ran and limped as fast they possibly could down the sidewalk. It was already dark, the sun completely gone from sight leaving sky to be shrouded in the darkness of night. The neighborhood felt ominously abandoned for every house Aria and Sonata passed, the lights were out, and there was no one outside either.

“Ar…ia…” Sonata spoke weakly, trying her best to keep up with Aria’s pace, but her strength was draining from her fast; she had lost too much blood.

“Hang in there, Sonata,” Aria replied, focusing on the path ahead, hoping to get her to nearest medical center. Sonata was starting to slow down, which made hard for her to carry her the whole way.

“Aria…” Sonata spoke again, her fingers slowly wrapping around Aria’s wrist to get her attention. “I can’t… keep going.” and with that, her muscles gave out, sapped of all strength, and her body collapsed to the ground pulling Aria down with her.

“Sonata! No… no, no, come on! We can’t stop here!” Aria panicked, wanting to deny the overwhelming fact that Sonata was reaching the end of her rope.

“I’m sorry, Aria… but I… I can’t go on anymore,” Sonata coughed as she looked up at Aria in an exhausted daze. Even though her body was getting colder by the second, she fought with all of her might to keep her eyes open. “I’m sorry… if I wasn’t a good girlfriend,”

“Don’t say such things,” Aria held Sonata’s hand tight as she rested the dying girl in her lap. “I loved every moment we spent together,”

“For… realzies?” Sonata broke out a weak smile. “I’m happy… to hear that,” she felt her strength waning thinner, for her eyelids were becoming increasingly heavy and she was losing in her battle to keep them open.

“No…” Aria felt a hard lump in her throat as she tried shaking her lover. “Sonata, don’t leave me!”

“Aria…” Sonata kept smiling in her attempt to ease her lover’s sadness. “May I… have one more… kiss?”

Aria nodded and lowered her face down close enough, and poured all of her feelings into Sonata. Their lips slowly met, keeping still in a brief moment that felt like an eternity. It was a kiss of deep love, but also sadly a kiss of a final farewell.

Inevitably they departed, and Aria raised her head back to look at Sonata in the eyes; the girl looked almost as if she was at peace with the world, like all of their troubles had been washed away in that last kiss between them. “I love you, Aria. I love you… I love you…I love…” the more she repeated, the fainter her voice became, until inevitably she became silent. Her body became motionless, and eventually her pulse stopped. Time felt it had stop and the world felt like it became colorless.

Sonata Dusk was no longer of this world.

Aria’s reality crumbled around her, unable to hold back her tears anymore. She held Sonata’s body as close she possibly could, laying her head to her shoulder as she let it all out. There were whimpers, squeaks, and deep breathing, nothing loud, but there was no doubt that Aria was in tremendous pain, pouring her soul out in complete despair.

“How tragic…”

Aria’s moment was suddenly cut off by a pair of blood-stained hands that had reached out from behind and snatching her into a tight embrace. Her blood froze up from the feeling of hot breath pouring behind her neck and ear. In that moment, she too felt sapped of all strength.

“How could you do this?” she hiccuped, tears still pouring down her face.

“She was an obstacle, and a burden,” answered the evil that held her tight within her grasp, her voice filled with sadistic delight. “Everything I’ve done was for your sake, Aria. And now you’re finally all mine.”

Aria gasped from feeling something pricked the side of her neck and injecting something into her body. Whatever it was, it was quick and potent. Her muscles felt more exhausted than they were before, her breathing slowing down into tranquility, and her vision becoming blurry, as Sonata’s lifeless form was the last thing she saw before everything turned black.

“Sona… ta…” Aria uttered her last words before passing out in Adagio Dazzle's arms. An evil chuckle filled the air, proclaiming her twisted victory that had destroyed two lives this night. Picking up the unconscious Aria, the monster turned around to carry her back home, leaving Sonata’s body far behind.

“Like I’ve said before, if I want something, I’ll always get it. Always.”

Author's Note

Geez-fucking-loueeze! This took forever!
Now I can finally get back to Adagio and Sonata's Little Aria.
I'm officially bestowing a new writing policy on myself: if I'm working on one story, I will not be working on any other story until I get the current story done.