Cherry Blossom Diaries - The Untold Stories of Horror and Depravity (Ch. 1: Eri)

~Before we begin~ I'd like to first thank my darling, Adrasteia, for giving me the inspiration to take a crack at this writing thing. Seeing as I can't distribute artistic imagery, I'm going to do some fingerpainting with words.

I started thinking up this concept last night. I wanted to do something with some supernatural and fantasy elements, but that also had a ring of truth, too. The best thing I could come up with was a fictional magazine where readers (mostly female) told stories of horrible deeds done to them - things that no one would believe. Some of the characters do not make it, and have their stories submitted via a friend or relative that witnessed the event. The ring of truth in these stories, of course, is that a lot of these things actually happen to Japanese women and they aren't believed- I've just taken them a step (or ten) farther...

Douzo...


Dear, CBD

My name is Eriko, but most people just call me Eri. I stumbled across your publication on a whim one day. I'd heard about it, but I didn't think it was real. Upon reading over the issue I purchased several times, I've finally gathered the courage to write you and tell you my story. I hope you are a real publication and not some sick joke. As it is, people think I'm crazy and I will surely kill myself if anymore humiliation or shame is brought upon me.


I was a student at Tokyo University. Being from a rural town, this city was vey overwhelming to me at first. All the people, the noise, it was all very foreign. My parents warned me of the many dangers and unscrupulous people, but I was tired of boring country life. I should have listened. I'm back home now, I will never go back there again. It's all an illusion; the glamour, the fame, all lies. Most days, I don't leave the house. I'm afraid that they'll find me.

I was in my junior year. Even though I'd been in the city for some time, I had still not completely adjusted. I'd made some friends, even had a boyfriend for a time. I had been in the library studying for a big exam and the time got away from me. It was only when the janitor tapped me on the shoulder and told me they'd closed over an hour before that I realized how late it was. How did they forget me? Anyway, he let me out and I started home.

I was about halfway there, walking by a small park when I was approached by a man. He didn't strike me as one of them, one of the hundreds that was passing out flyers or offering girls money they couldn't turn down to do AV (adult video). I never took the offers, though the money would have helped. I knew plenty who did. Many left school with stars in their eyes, some just did it as a one time thing. Still, there were others that did it and were mocked and harassed by the guys. I'd even heard a rumor that there had been one that just disappeared entirely. I was about to become the next.

This man just looked me over a moment, it gave me a funny feeling. "You could be a very famous actress," he said. "I don't do those things, excuse me." I tried to push past him, and I thought I was in the clear, but then he shouted "I know what you think I am. It's not 'that' type of acting" to me. "Sure," I replied. "Fine. Go home and watch the next pretty girl live lavishly. Do you enjoy spending endless hours buried in books? Being forgotten about and locked in the library?" How did he know? Had he been following me?

I was very uneasy now, every fiber of my being told me to run. I did. I got to the corner, and he walked out in front of me. How? He didn't appear any different than a regular man. I froze and he approached once more. "Your refusal will not be accepted, girl!" He was seemingly very angry... "Please! I don't know what you want!" I started crying. He put his right hand under my chin and lifted my head so that I was looking right at him. He then wiped the tears from my face with the left hand. "Do you see the pretty girls on the billboards? The advertising that decorates this cesspool?" He began looking upward and around the general area, then started pointing at various advertisements with women on them.

"Unknowns, all of them. Until they had this very meeting." He started to grin. It was sinister, his teeth were yellow. There was something he wasn't saying. "I don't believe you..." I pulled away, but then he snatched me by my hair. "You don't have to. I already told you that you don't have a choice." "Let me go! Police!" No one heard me. He laughed. "I'm tiring of this. When you awake, your new life will begin" After that, darkness.

From the darkness, I awoke in a room of brilliant white. It was so intense, it hurt my eyes. Then things began to even out and come into focus. I looked around. The room was indeed white, maybe it was a drug he'd given me that made it seem so brilliant. There was nothing but a window that I couldn't see out of, like something you'd see in a police station. I then looked at myself. My clothes were gone and I started to panic. I couldn't see any visible wounds, I didn't hurt anywhere, but I was terrified that he'd done something.

It seemed like hours. Hours of nothingness and fear. Then a voice came from the other side of the window, it was female. "You've already given yourself away?" She had a tone of disappointment in her voice. "Virgins sell better, but we can still work with you." "What are you talking about?! Where am I?! What did you do to me?!" I was hysterical. Then a door opened from the wall. How did I not see it? She walked in and circled around me with her hand on her chin, pondering what to do with me, I assumed.

She was beautiful. Golden hair that stretched nearly to her feet in a black dress that hugged her body and she had a sheer silken overcoat that dragged behind her. "You girls today..." She began circling once more. "Purity is very marketable. All the young men that would want to be your first... You'd have them eating out of your hand." She walked away from me and was shaking her head in dismay. "How do you..." I noticed that my voice had changed... "You have the voice of an angel now, dear." She smirked. "Do you like it? You're going to be the biggest star in the world." She began tracing my breasts with her index finger, it was cold. "We've made you perfect in... almost... every way." She giggled and before I could say or ask anything, she made a quick motion and her hand was clutching me between my legs. Her fingernails felt like razors.

"This," she began massaging me and I let out a small sigh... "This we can do nothing about." She looked in my eyes and even though it was just my body reacting to her touch, she looked puzzled. "Are you taking pleasure in this?" Her puzzled look turned into a smirk and before I could answer, she said "You're a little whore, aren't you? You derive pleasure from anyone's touch. You're not unique, though, every girl that comes here is the same!" She pulled away quickly, even scratching me as she did so. She began to walk away. "Things are going to start happening quickly for you, get ready."

I know, my story is long, but I'm sure that my "fans" reading this already know the rest. Things did happen fast, she was not lying. Actually, a lot of things just seemed to happen. Nothing before, nothing after. Just random flashes of events, and small chunks of a life that didn't seem real. The voice they gave me led to a singing career, my body had changed into what some may refer to as perfect. I modelled, lived in a big house, took trips, it was a girl's dream.

What you fans don't know, is that the woman kept watch over me. She made sure I remained "pure." I don't know what their organization is called, or if it was just her and that man. At night, she would make me pleasure her, but she would not touch me. When she was satisfied, she'd lie next to me and tell me about all the people they'd made famous, about how powerful they were. When she'd leave, she'd say "Don't ever run." I didn't want to continue being a prisoner. I had everything but freedom and what good does it do to be lonely with material possessions? I'd rather have nothing and people to share my life with. One night, I disobeyed. I ran.

It wasn't hard to escape, I was never shackled or chained. I just slipped out of bed one evening, threw on the clothes I'd stashed under the bed during the day and fled. I've never been so nervous, my heart had never beat so fast. I didn't know who would be looking for me or if people would recognize me. It was a long way home, but I made it.

Now I live in fear. Maybe they'll find me, maybe a crazed fan will find me, I fear everything. Upon my return, my own mother didn't even recognize me. The changes I'd undergone had rendered me unrecognizable to her. I told her and my father what had happened, they didn't believe me. They knew me as the pop queen and whatever else. When things started showing up on TV that I had disappeared, I had to pay them the little bit I had available to me for their silence. I don't think they even believe I'm their daughter. I'm just the crazy celebrity that's hiding in their home.

Lastly, the women's warning about running was not a death threat in the traditional sense. The perfect looks? They're fading. Fast. I'm changing daily and it has taken all of my strength to write you. I just thought of something... Do they know about this publication? If so, I assume that man will be coming for me. I guess it's settled.

Sayonara,
Eri