This is intended to be a teaser, hence the length. I will write more once I am finished with 'My Own Sinking Ship'. This will be a pretty dark story and the rating will eventually go up. I added a link on my profile for the songs I've been listening to while writing, please feel free to check it out. Enjoy!

Haunted

Nao knocked on her friend's door for the third time, starting to become impatient. Natsuki had missed the last three months' worth of meetings and hadn't been answering her phone. Haruka was starting to take it personally and she told Nao that if Natsuki missed the next one there would be consequences.

The door swung open marginally, held back by the chain lock. A green eye stared at her for a long moment and the door closed again. Nao heard Natsuki remove the chain and the door reopened for her to enter.

The snarky comment Nao was about to make died on her lips when she took in the sight of her friend. Natsuki was always on the thinner side but now she looked sickly, and the sharp blades of her collarbone were visible above her loose shirt. Her normally pale face had feverish spots across the cheekbones and there were dark half-moon circles beneath her eyes.

"Shit, Natsuki. What happened to you?" Nao said in frank surprise. She made herself comfortable on Natsuki's sofa and the other girl moved towards the chair across from her. After Natsuki sat down, her forearms settled on her knees and her hands clasped tightly together. She had a hard time meeting Nao's eyes.

"Please don't laugh," Natsuki said quietly. She collapsed further in on herself after the request was made.

Nao was silent. Was this some kind of joke? The Natsuki she knew was strong and confident and a smile was nearly always on her face. Natsuki was the one who always raced her around the city, the one who would bicker back and forth with her until both their throats were sore. This person in front of her…she was a stranger. "Of course not." Nao answered slowly, wondering where this conversation would go.

"It's…" Natsuki's breathing hitched for a moment and she exhaled shakily. "I've been…seeing Shizuru."

A grimace came across Nao's face. She should have known this might have been about Natsuki's fiancée. "That's impossible. We went to her funeral together. She's been gone for—"

Natsuki's head snapped up. "I know that!" She said sharply. "I know that," she repeated at a lower level. "And I know this is crazy but…she keeps appearing." Her lips quivered and she quickly looked down at her hands.

"When was the last time you slept?" Nao inquired as gently as she could. It seemed strange that it had taken this long for Natsuki to crack. She had seemed well, not happy, but certainly healthy these last few years.

Natsuki shook her head. "I don't—" A hand streaked roughly through her hair in frustration. "I can't remember."

"When was the first time you saw her?" Nao asked curiously, thinking the lack of sleep might be connected with Natsuki's hallucinations.

"About three months ago." Her foot bounced nervously. "I was at the grocery, just walking past the aisles. One aisle bread, another aisle cereal, the next aisle Shizuru." She gave a harsh laugh as though realizing how ridiculous she sounded. "I turned back to look down the aisle again and she was gone. But she was there, I know it."

Nao noticed that Natsuki's nails were bitten down to the bloody cuticles. She tore her gaze away from them, a sinking feeling starting to develop in her chest. She cleared her throat. "Could it have been someone who looked like her?"

"That's what I thought at first. But she kept appearing. The next time was when I left the library to go home. I got into the cab and I swear she walked right by the window. She was wearing that beige jacket she liked so much. It kept occurring, just little flashes of her." Natsuki tilted her head slightly. "But then…it got worse."

Nao didn't bother to say anything this time—the words were tumbling out of Natsuki at a near hysterical rate now.

"I came home to find a note on my table." Her arms moved to wrap around her midsection and grip at her wrinkled shirt. "It said, 'Natsuki darling, I've missed you. Next time you go out, I'll come with.' It was her handwriting, her signature. Such a simple thing and it terrified me. More notes started appearing. She left them on the fridge, the bathroom mirror, the desk, everywhere. And then I started getting letters."

Jesus. Nao closed her eyes and a hand came up to rub at her temple. So it wasn't just hallucinations, Kuga had a certified stalker. It was sick of someone to impersonate a dead woman to get her attention. But looking at her, it seemed to have worked more effectively than the stalker probably hoped. Natsuki truly believed Shizuru was haunting her.

Natsuki continued on doggedly, eyes fixed on Nao's shoes. "I've still got them; they all say about the same thing. How she misses me, loves me, wants to see me more. I've got a whole stack of them. And then just…just yesterday, I saw her in here," she swallowed a gasping breath. "I was in bed and she was standing over me, staring. She bolted away before I could say anything."

Nao finally stood up and walked the short distance over to her friend. She bent down and put her hands on Natsuki's shoulders. "You need to call the cops. This has gone on long enough—someone, some twisted fuck, is trying to drive you crazy and they seem to be doing a bang-up job." Natsuki flinched at that and Nao let out a sigh. "Stay at my place for a while, yours is obviously compromised."

"I've changed the locks four times," Natsuki said tonelessly. "She keeps coming."

Nao's grip on Natsuki tightened. "This isn't right. I'll find whoever's doing this to you. I'll kill them." She wasn't joking either. Whoever had managed to cause Natsuki this much pain deserved to have their throat ripped out.

Natsuki grabbed Nao's hands with her own clammy ones, drawing her in closer. Their faces were only a breath away now. "There's something else. Something you need to know." The tremor in Natsuki's voice was undeniable now.

The next words she spoke sent a chill down Nao's spine. In them, she saw what frightened her friend so much, what had reduced her to such a state. The implication that this was very dangerous and very, very real.

Natsuki said in a broken whisper, "I only see her at night."