Chapter 1: not quite paramnesia

"Can you hear it, their screams? Their lovely screams?"

"Heh…hahaha…yes, I can. So splendid!"

"Isn't it fun to listen to their pleas for help?"

"Very fun, my lord. The variety, the different pitches…it's so exhilarating."

"I'm glad you enjoy it, my princess."

Tick, tock.

Tick, tock.

Tick, tock.

Tick…

…tock.

The sounds of a grandfather clock can be quite annoying, and that is what wakes Peach Toadstool up from her slumber. She blinks her eyes twice, attempting to adjust those wide, blue orbs of hers to the eerie and unusual darkness. The princess was confused, completely and utterly confused, and unable to remember any event she had partaken in before she had woken up. It was weird, how a single memory could not replay in her mind; but it was weirder that her entire room was covered in this quiet darkness. She got out of bed, momentarily wobbling and complaining as she tripped over something soft. Was it a shoe? It felt like it. But why were her shoes just lying about on the floor like that? She was never the one to keep things untidy.

Peach decided that the shoe situation was a situation to be thought about later. She stuck her arms out, moving them around carefully as she wobbled like a confused penguin, attempting to find a light source. She felt the walls, lightly patting them in the continuing search for a light switch. Her hand grazed something sticky, and she jerked back, making a repulsed and gagging noise. What the hell did she just touch? Did she have some type of freaky party in here? …No way, Peach isn't that type of person. She can't chug down gallons of alcohol like Samus and Snow, the Wii Fit Trainer, can. One glass of red wine is enough for her, thank you very much.

But still, the sticky substance on the wall freaked her out, and the sooner she could see, the sooner she could figure out what happened to her royal room.

Peach moved around some more, gasping when her slender fingers finally found the light switch. Ah, what wondrous success! She flicked it upwards, ready to be basked in the glow of artificial light…

…only for her to remain in the bothersome darkness.

What.

The.

Fuck?

Great. Just great. It's amazing, the odds of all the lightbulbs in her room blowing out. Whoever did this to Princess Peach Toadstool's room was seriously going to pay.

Thankfully, the door was right next to the light switch. Peach felt for the doorknob and twisted it, revealing nothing more than a pitch-black environment. Peach sighed. What the fuck was going on? Why was everything so dark? Did the generator in the basement go off again? Damnit, it is not that hard to replace the old thing. Master Hand was the most frugal floating hand she has ever known.

Well, he's the only frugal floating hand she has ever known, but still, this was the sixth time the generator has went up and died. It was annoying.

The princess decided that she needed to head to the basement, see if anyone was working on it. Once again, it was up to her to solve the problems of the mansion yet again. Peach sighed heavily, noting how much of a chore this was. The whole mansion was blanketed by the darkness, and she has yet to encounter another soul.

Which promptly brought up another thought: where was everyone? Surely, they didn't leave her in the mansion alone. Not every single Smasher this mansion has to offer. If they did, it was a sick and twisted prank, and it shouldn't have been played on her.

Peach turned to her right and walked down the corridor, eyes again adjusting to the darkness. She knew she was on the fourth floor, and the staircase was at the end of the hall. The click, clack of her heels made an echoing sound, and frankly, the peachy princess wasn't feeling so peachy. It was unnerving, being alone like this, no one else daring to make their presence known. Like, what the hell? A whole group of people couldn't have disappeared like that. She shivered slightly, trying to keep her composure. Her eyes darted around the corridor, looking for a sign of –

"Aah!"

A loud thump and yelp accompanied her fall, and Peach winced in pain as she landed on her wrist. Sitting up, she rubbed her wrist, and sighed in relief as she decided it wasn't broken. She eyed an object near her feet and grabbed it, examining it.

Amazingly, it was a flashlight.

Peach grinned.

She clicked the button, and lo and behold! Light graciously came from it. The princess scrambled to her feet, happy that something actually worked. It was as though she was in some creepy horror game or story, and she was the unfortunate protagonist, out to search for clues while evading whatever was trying to kill her.

Of course, things don't happen like that in reality. It was just simple case of the lights going off and Peach taking it upon herself to fix the problem.

Though, fact and reality can easily be distorted with fantasy, especially a dark, foreboding fantasy. It's really sad that Peach is oblivious to the happenings around her. Ah, she'll find out the hard way. They all did.

The light was revealed the condition of the hallway: small tables were flipped over, vases were broken, and there were holes in the wall. There was not a party here; parties were not this violent, this…unsettling. A sense of despair washed over Peach, albeit temporary, for she quickly rid herself of those thoughts and marched on. She stepped over the shimmering glass shards and broken pieces of wood, walking past the rooms of her fellow Smashers that shared the fourth floor with her. Her curiosity was piqued when she approached Zelda's door, and a slight memory of her running with Zelda flashed in her mind, gone as quickly as it came. Why she was running with Zelda was a question she could not currently answer, and despite being near the start of the stairs, Peach couldn't help but start a small investigation.

Peach stood in front of the door, coming face-to-face with an embroidered sign that displayed Princess Zelda of Hyrule in gold, cursive letters. Zelda was a woman that had taken an interest in the fancies and pretties of life, much like Peach herself. It was the reason why they were such great friends.

She knocked lightly on the door, calling out to the royal Hylian. "Zelda, are you in there, sweetheart? Zellie, answer me if you are in there!" The princess jiggled the doorknob, and the door creaked open, gradually revealing the Hylian princess's bedroom. She took a few steps inside, looking around. It looked relatively clean and untouched, and there was absolutely no sign of Zelda.

Peach sighed. Figures that Zelda wouldn't want remain in her room with the power off. She was probably somewhere in this mansion with Link. She backed out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"Perhaps she is in the foyer?" Peach wondered aloud, placing a finger on her chin. She was about to allow herself to be lost in a train of thoughts when the fast and heavy sound of footsteps caught her attention.

"Hello?" she called out. "Zelda, is that - ?"

"You lying, despicable bitch! Die!"

Peach's eyes widened as she was slapped across the face, the force of the sudden attack causing her to lose her balance. The flashlight flew from her grasp, preventing her to get a good look of her attacker. Stumbling backwards, she cried out in pain and, in her shock, she stepped onto a stair, breaking her heel and tumbling down. A sickening cackle was the last thing she could hear as the pain shot through her body, the serene darkness wrapping delicately around her.

She was sprawled onto the floor, fingers twitching ever-so-slightly. That proved that she was somehow alive, given the forced option of feeling her limbs ache with pain. Her eyes fluttered opened, and Peach Toadstool felt a warm, sticky substance trickle down her forehead. Blood. It couldn't be anything else than her own blood seeping down her child-like, fear-etched face, dripping onto the floor.

Drip, drop.

Drip, drop.

She struggled to get up, her body wanting to rebel, her mind telling her to lay back down and succumb to the agony. Her mind was being stabbed with freshly-sharpened daggers, and her vision was on the teetering edge of failing her. Peach cursed, an act she seldom does, as she placed a hand on her now scarlet-dyed hair.

"W-who…the hell would d-do something like that?" she breathed. "Fucking shit, I need to find Dr. Mario…" A flash of gleaming light blinded her momentarily, and she realized that artificial godsend was the flashlight she'd dropped. She scrambled to get it, picking it up as if it was an object dearest to her heart. She shone the light to the direction of the stairs, revealing the state of the third floor.

She wanted to scream, but it seems as though she couldn't produce one more blood-curdling yell.

Blood painted the walls, blood she knew didn't belong to her. Blood that looked fresh, recent. She trembled, fear taunting her by paralyzing her, forcing the princess to stare at the revolting mess before.

"T-t-this is fucking disgusting," she managed to spit out. "What the fuck is this?"

A chill ran up Peach's spine. This was fucking horrible. How could something so terrifying happen without her damn knowledge? This couldn't be happening; this had to be nothing more than a really shitty nightmare. She must be getting fact and fantasy confused, reality and dreams mixed up.

But the blood on her pretty pink dress proved otherwise.

Peach resisted the urge to spew vomit onto the floor. Her priority was getting to the fucking infirmary and fixing her head wound. Thankfully, the infirmary was located on the floor she was on. Peach slowly walked forward, head throbbing, not noticing hearing the faint screaming that came from the first floor.

Well, ladies and gents, this was the first chapter of this interesting little story. Not much happened this chapter…well, except someone trying to kill our lovely Peach. Yep, attempted murder this early!

Anyway, I plan to have a total of eight chapters for this contest story, which means I can't procrastinate like I do with all my other stories, heh heh. I've a lot of creepy and moral-breaking things planned for this story; time to be more experimental and abstract than usual! See you in chapter 2!