Werebunnies!

Werebunnies!
rev. 7th July, 2017

We gathered outside a room lit only by candlelight. Four candles, set firmly on top of cardboard boxes so old that the sheet of dust that covered them, ringed a central space no larger than a couple of desks set beside each other.

"G-g-g-guys, a-are you sure we're allowed in here?", said Monica. She covered her mouth with her handkerchief as she crept inside. "And why is there so much dust? I have asthma, you know..."

"It's okay! It's okay!", Mikke said, patting Monica on the back hard enough to skew her glasses off center. "We're not gonna be touching the boxes anyway!"

"O-okay...", Monica turned away and then mumbled to herself, "That hurt, you damn ape!"

Farthest back, Yuuri sighed. "I'm bored, I sorta just wanna go back to our room and sleep, TBH...", she complained, saying the letters out loud.

Our 'leader', so to say - the one who organized this little event, came up in front and addressed all of us, "Now, now! We all agreed to this yesterday, right!?", she said with a stern look in her eyes, "This is THE Number 1 spookiest corner of this beach resort, and we have it all to ourselves!" She fixed her hands to her hips. "It's summer! The last day of our summer trip, to be exact! That means only one thing:" She then pointed to Mikke, expecting an obvious answer.

"Ueeeh!? Eh... ah... er- Firewor-"

"That's right! Ghost stories!"

Yuuri attempted to interject. "Uh Prez... Mikke said Fire-"

"-And so, my dear clubmates, I want to present to you the BEST-EST summer experience our club funds can afford: 'Summer Ghost Stories In Isolated Island Resort - Yurigaoka Girls Academy Edition'!!"

"P-prez...", said Yuuri, with an increasingly worried voice. "We aren't on an island... and by the way, there ain't a beach in this resort, only a single pool."

Yuuri's retorts fell on deaf ears, unfortunately, as the President just continued grinning victoriously as she herded us in. "Now, come in, come in!"

"Are you okay, prez?", Yuuri whispered to her as she was pushed in along with the rest of us.

Whilst keeping her cheerful facade, she leaned into Yuuri's ear and whispered, "I'm doing my best here, okay!? Just roll with it!"

One by one, we walked in, the floor creaking noisily from our every step. We sat down in circle at the very middle of the room, very close to one another. There was hardly any room for even one person more.

"Uwahahah...! We're really going to do it!", said Mikke as she shook Monica by her shoulders, much to her chagrin.

"Okay, so who wants to go first?", our President said. Her voice suddenly sounded cold and dark, much like the room we found ourselves in. The candles kept flickering from the waft of cold air that seeped in through the run-down walls. Not a single noise could be heard, and if you stared at the candle light long enough, you could almost "hear" it flicker about.

"Me, I'll start!" Yuuri raised her hand.

"Oh, getting in the mood now, aren't we?", the President rubbed her hands together. "Let's start!"

One by one, we told our ghost stories to everyone in the circle. Most of the stories were myths and urban legends that we had heard around the school in our years - a staple, really. We have heard them all at least once, but the combination of the atmosphere, and that feeling of isolation really got into your nerves. Suddenly, the flickers grew more menacing and the draft around us gave us goosebumps. Every little creak in the plyboards would cause a jump, the jump would then cause a scream, and before we knew, everyone was scared out of their wits. It was, as the President said, the "best-est ghost story experience" we have ever had.

Finally, it was the President's turn to tell her story - the last one of the night.

"Have you heard of the new rumors going around?"

"New rumors?", asked Monica.

"Yeah. Forget the classics that our seniors passed onto us - this one is new. Remember a few months ago, that girl from class C, uh... what's her name?"

"Class C?"

"Uh... Usako?", Yuuri answered.

"Yeah, yeah! That - Usako."

"President, how could you forget the story you're telling...?" Yuuri looked at the president with disappointment.

"Leave me alone, I told you this was new!" The President pouted. "Anyway, Usako - remember that she stopped coming to school a few days and then the teachers told us to not to come near the rabbit enclosure?"

"Yeah, they were cleaning it up for pests." Monica raised her hand.

"Ah, so you knew?"

"I am in the student council, the teachers told us about it."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot."

Yuuri smirked. "You did."

Unfazed, the President continued, "You see, the thing is, Usami hasn't returned since, right?"

"Hm. That's right.", said Monica.

"Doesn't that strike you as weird? First of all, they don't tell us 'normal' students what is going on. And then, they tell the student council they were just cleaning it of pests?"

"Hmm..." Mikke had a complicated look on her face.

"It's odd, isn't it!? And besides, what does that have to do with Usami's disappearance!?"

"Does it have to be connected? I mean, it could just be family issues-", said Monica.

"A- A- Ah! Not so fast. I happen to know...", the President suddenly started speaking in hushed tone. "...in fact - that on that day that she disappeared..."

Suddenly, the tension rematerialized. We collectively held our breath. It felt like our hearts paused for moment, in anticipation.

"...Usami...", starting from a whisper, the President drew her voice into a loud bellow, "...was in charge of feeding the rabbits!"

Monica screamed.

The others quickly followed and the candles flickered violently as if dancing to the tune of our terror.

"W-w-what does feeding the rabbits have to do with her disappearance!?", asked Mikke, her voice trembling in unison with her body.

"I'll tell you. Now, these are just the rumors that I've been hearing, so I don't have all the details, but basically, it's this:"

Our throats ran dry, and it became hard to swallow. Moreover, our hearts raced so intensely that we could feel each other's pulse as we clutched frightfully onto one another.

"On that fateful day, when Usami went out to feed the rabbits, some seniors say that they heard her scream."

"Eh!? Why!?", asked Monica.

"Well, she got bit, apparently."

"W-what, by what!?"

"By the rabbits.", said the president with a menacing voice.

"T-that can't be all, right?"

"Of course not. Here's the thing - rumors are, some unknown virus actually infected our rabbits. And it turns out, it's no ordinary virus. It changes you...."

"W-what do you mean, 'changes'...?" Monica shuddered so hard that we could almost hear her clothes rustle with her shivering.

"...You sort of... fade away... and people find it hard to notice you. After a couple of days, you sort of 'disappear' - even to people looking you right in the face, it's like you don't even exist."

"W-W-What!?" Monica wrapped herself very tightly around Mikke's waist. Her tears rolled down her cheeks and onto Mikke's uniform.

"M-monica, y-you're crushing me..." Mikke struggled to breathe.

"Oh yes, but that's not the worst part..."

Monica squealed as she cupped her ears and tucked her head into Mikke's lap.

"On the night of a full moon - a night such as this... You 'come back' to this world, completely changed!"

Our senses hit their climax.

"You've become...", she crept closer and closer to us, who have huddled together in one corner of the room. There was no more room to escape. She herded us like a vicious wolf, ready to deliver her final blow to a helpless bunch of sheep.

...And with a terifying roar, our President shouted, "...A Werebunny!!"

After a split second of absolute terror, we... felt a bit dumbstruck.

"Huh?" Yuuri cocked her head.

"A WEREBUNNY!", again, our President roared, even louder this time.

"What the heck is that!?", Monica shouted.

"E-eh!? W-Why are you angry?"

"Werebunny? Are you kidding me!?", Monica held nothing back. "Couldn't you have made a scarier name!?"

"That's right! Now all that atmosphere in build-up just got ruined!", Mikke piled on.

"E-eh? You too, Mikke!?" The President could not figure out what to say."B-but that's it's name, what can I do about it...?"

"Aah-" Yuuri sighed, "I knew this was a waste of time. I really wanna go to sleep now."

"Really!", Monica pouted.

"E-eh!? D-don't you at least want to know what the werebunnies can do!?", the President whimpered.

"Eheh, actually I am pretty pooped myself! It was fun though, really!", said Mikke as she stretched her arms out and let out a satisfied moan.

"Eehhh... No way...!"

With no one willing to listen to any more and the tense atmosphere all but dissolved, we wrapped up the event and headed to the door.

*Kachak*

"Huh?", Yuuri wondered as she tried to turn the door knob with successively more force, but with each attempt yielding nothing.

*Kachack*

*KACHACK*

"What is it?", asked Mikke.

Yuuri scratched her head. "The... door is locked, though."

"Ueeeh?", Monica groaned.

"President. The key, please.", said Yuuri.

"Huh? But that door is locked from the inside.", she answered.

"Eh!?" Yuuri quickly doubled back and inspected the door knob. Indeed, the locking button there, and it is not pressed. "But- but it won't budge!" She tried shoving the door open, but to no avail.

"Huh? Let me try." Mikke took over and tried, herself, to turn the knob. She pushed and she pulled, heaving a loud grunt each time, but the doorknob simply would not budge. "Wha-!? Prez, I think the door is broken!"

"Eeh!!? No way!", our President said as she stepped forward, only to fiddle with the door knob herself. "W-We're locked in...?" Only to come to the same conclusion.

"What!?" Monica crumpled to the floor, sobbing. "No way!"

"Uuuugh...", Yuuri groaned, "I don't want to spend the night here with you fo-" She suddenly stopped. "...Huh?"

"What's up, Yuuri?", asked Mikke.

"F... Four?" Yuuri cocked her head and started counting with her fingers

"What?", said the President. "What's going on?"

"E-Eh!?" Monica picked up on it, and stuttered in a fit of panic. "Th-th-th-there are just... f-f-four of us in the c-club... right?"

"Huh? Yeah- ... ...Huh!?", our President froze and started sounding the members off.

"Mikke..."

And as she did, a cold draft wisped into the room.

"Yuuri..."

...and the candles blew out one by one.

"Monica..."

And the room grew darker...

"Me..."

...and the room grew colder.

"a-and-"

So you finally noticed.