Bullets tore through the air, ricocheting off the steel walls of a secret chamber that Lady Caltheris kept only for the purpose of training new recruits.
Lady Caltheris scoffed in disbelief as Kurai hadn't only missed the target once but multiple times.
"Even a rotting corpse can do better than her," Lady Caltheris speculated, her hand gripping onto her hat to cover her face from the humiliating view.
She had her children rise at witching hour to prepare for the morning. They couldn't afford to wait until sunrise. If they couldn't even wake up early to train, how could they call themselves Nightmare Fuels?
"Now repeat after me, every future fuel of nightmare never gives up an opportunity of destruction because there is no sleep for the wicked," Lady Caltheris instructed.
"Every future fuel of nightmare never gives up an opportunity of destruction because there is no sleep for the wicked," the children repeated.
Kurai rubbed her eyes and yawned as she placed her weapon to her side.
"Now, as Kurai is new to our family, it's our duty to teach her the techniques of being a villainess (cuz future villainesses don't have such a poor aim)."
The creepy boy hopped up from his seat.
"Give her the Glock 19! She'll have lots of fun blowing some guy's brain out! It's so small yet simple to use!" he said through crazed eyes.
Kurai smiled slightly.
She couldn't let them know she was dreading inside.
Having a gun in her possession made her feel all droopy inside.
Time, an unforgiving hourglass, poured itself out immensely, pressing her toward the choice she dreaded.
And the worst part was that her emotions weren't something she could ever hide; they were always written over her face, and she could literally feel Lady Caltheris' smile widening.
"Don't be shy, Kurai, you could deal with the drugs instead. It has the same effect as a gun except you won't see if your customer dies," Lady Caltheris chuckled, extending the powdery substance to her.
Now, Kurai was a sensible girl.
Chickening out and alerting others for help was equivalent to handing them over to the National Police Agency, and Kurai was just as guilty as them.
And if Lady Caltheris managed to cover up her tracks in a blink of an eye, Kurai's existence would be gone without a trace.
Her eyes fixated on the substance, refusing to move even an inch towards it. She just stood there like a clueless deer in headlights, the bag luring her in like a trance.
Her life was on the brink of death, the woman who could pull out her weapon and end it all with the whisk of her hand.
"I-I'll deal with the drugs," Kurai muttered.
"Splendid!" Lady Caltheris rejoiced, patting Kurai on the back, "You made the right choice, it would have been a shame if there were...any accidents."
The creepy boy rolled his eyes and dropped his dagger onto the floor with a loud thud.
"Tobio, what have I told you about threatening people into joining this family? You know it's impolite to force others into doing things they don't want to."
"B-But—"
"No buts, let this be your final warning."
Tobio's once crazed eyes softened for a split second before turning unreadable, like the calm before a storm.
Kurai's new family watched in amazement as Lady Caltheris pointed to each of them with her eyes closed and correctly called their names.
"You already know Tobio."
"The twins are Zyren and Liora."
"The girl is Chihiro."
"The boy who looks like he has all the problems in the world is Gengyo."
Lady Caltheris called twenty names and, surprisingly, was able to recall all of them at the top of her head.
"Listen up, children, fuels of nightmares don't rush for food, we all will be violent during starvation, breakfast shall be our award," Lady Caltheris instructed, "Gengyo, care to demonstrate?"
Gengyo squeaked.
"B-but I'm really hungry, mother..."
"That's the point, boy, show your brothers and sisters what you learnt to do!"
Gengyo hesitated, but a quick peek at Kurai's hooded almond amethyst eyes was all he needed.
"Bring the manqinn," Gengyo demanded.
Lady Caltheris smirked and dragged a manquinn that was on the verge of falling apart.
With all the hunger and tiredness coursing through his veins, Gengyo snatched the head of the manquinn off and frantically pulled out the stuffing like a mad man in a daze, excited to remember what food tasted like.
The children applauded him, but all Kurai saw was a boy in agony, but she wished to take no part in getting to know a criminal.
Gengyo's stomach growled like crazy, but he remained silent; the training session was nowhere close to finishing, and Lady Caltheris had made it clear she wasn't providing any breakfast to the Nightmare Fuels until their session was completed.
Throughout the session, Kurai clung to Gengyo to avoid any incidents, and Gengyo clung to Kurai for support.
The sight of this boiled Lady Caltheris' blood.
"A pure soul...is a worthless one," Lady Caltheris thought, gritting her teeth.
Lady Caltheris grabbed Gengyo by the arm.
"Stop hurting him!" Kurai cried.
"You're so naive you can't even realize this nuisance would be your downfall as a future villainess!" Lady Caltheris declared.
Kurai hushed herself; she knew better than getting herself in trouble.
Only God had seen the things Lady Caltheris had done to the other Nightmare Fuels who were cowering in a corner, signaling Kurai to apologize.
"Sorry..." Kurai whispered under her breath.
"Say it louder," Lady Caltheris ordered.
"I'm sorry..." Kurai softly repeated.
"I see all of you are forgetting your place, as your mother, I demand respect at all times," Lady Caltheris stated.
The Nightmare Fuels listened to her speech, not attentively though, their thoughts were focused on breakfast, wanting to eat until their hearts' content, but they were stuck with this lady boasting about how many crimes she got away with and how she was going to be the one to unleash Kurai's inner darkness.
"Ughhhh, I wanna rip someone's guts outttt!" Tobio whined.
"Now, now Tobio, we only go after bad people, remember?" Lady Caltheris calmly replied.
"Yes, mother..." Tobio grunted.
"I don't usually do punishments, but Kurai needs to learn some discipline. Therefore, no breakfast for her today," Lady Caltheris said.
"What?! But we've been up since three in the morning!" Kurai complained.
Gengyo got closer to Kurai, "Complaining does no good."
"What was that? You don't want lunch either?! Splendid!" Lady Caltheris said, gripping her hat tightly.
Horror invited a nation on Kurai's face; had she been hearing correctly?
Lady Caltheris had already made her decision; she swiftly sprinted to a small kitchen.
The aroma filled the house.
Before long, Lady Caltheris hollered for the children to enter the kitchen, and they all went fighting and tumbling inside.
On the table lay the rice steamed, the fish glistening, and the tamagoyaki perfectly sliced.
"Eat before it gets cold," Lady Caltheris said.
Her hands hadn't burned, though the pan hissed.
But Lady Caltheris was a lady who was aggressive towards perfection, so the children assumed that was the reason why.
When breakfast had been served, she intentionally shoved past Kurai, side-eying her as she handed Tobio the most important meal of the day.
The words Kurai wanted to say were stuck deeply in her throat.
As she gasped for air, she couldn't help but swallow her words away.
They were enjoying their breakfast, laughter and joy filled the atmosphere, but all Kurai could do was watch them with a dry throat and a hungry stomach.
Was this the life she had to live?
Perhaps the universe was against her.
She basically was flirting with death, and oh, how he longed for her again.
Would she roam the earth and see the secrets the human race never dared to speak of if he snatched the life out of her?
Death.
It was as if it were taboo.
But now it didn't look like it; it felt as though the longer she stayed around these strange children and Lady, her decaying body tossed away where no one could see but only the one who created her.
She always believed in God, but still never knew who he was.
To every simpleton, the world is like a fantasy, a simulation where we would look down at all the others, getting the gist of it.
The Tsukikage family attended church every Sunday, yet Kurai still had no clue who God was.
So the thought of going to church peeved her, having to listen to her pastor for two hours straight, then fork up her parents' money.
It all didn't make sense to Kurai; religion appeared to be a scam that only wanted yen from her parents' wallet.
Why else would she feel so alone?
She'd always mention him in her convos, but each time she tried praying to him, her palms fell into her lap, and her hair would cascade down her face to hide her shame, and she never understood why, when she always questioned his existence.
Speaking to someone you aren't sure is there feels awkward.
So it wasn't a surprise when this situation turned Kurai's faith in God into a mustard seed.
Her limbs struggled to stay ahold, her eyes begged for rest, and her throat died to be quenched.
"At least to sin is to live," Kurai muttered, straining a smile.