A Series of Cinema Bizarre Events

I scanned my eyes over the page, completely entangled in the storyline. Hell, this was a good book! The book was reaching the most interesting part, when there was a knock on my door. I lifted my eyes off the page and stared down the hall at the door to my apartment. Someone knocked again.
“Lumi! We need to talk to you!” came Strify’s voice.
I sighed, replaced the bookmark, set my book down on the kitchen counter and walked down the hall. Geez I hate it when someone interrupts my reading. I opened my door to see Shin and Strify standing there, hand in hand.
“What do you two need?” I asked as nicely as possible, considering they had chosen the climax of my story’s plot to interrupt my reading.
“Look, Lumi, I know this is a bit last minute, but my cousin, Cyndi, she’s coming here and needs somewhere to stay. I’d put her in Shin’s old apartment, but Nayla’s just moved in there, and I need someone who can keep an eye on her anyway.”
“What about Romeo?”
“No can do. Please Luminor?”
Oh, quick recap, assuming you need one. Shin had moved into Strify’s apartment when we got back from tour, so Nayla had moved into Shin’s old apartment to be closer to Kiro. Why she didn’t just move in with Kiro already, I didn’t understand.
“Mmm... Okay...” I sighed.
“Yes! Thank you so much Lumi!” Strify kissed me on the cheek.
“Hey!” Shin pouted at Strify.
“Aww, you know I’d kiss you any day of the week.” Strify placed his lips on Shin’s.
Wow. Tonsil hockey. Yum.
“Well, if you two are happy making out on my doorstep, then I’ll just get back to my book.” I began to close my door.
“Wait! Lumi!” Strify put his foot in the door.
“What?” I asked, opening to door fully again.
“She’s coming tonight. Cyndi is coming tonight.”
“Oh, so now I have to clean. Double yay.” I shook my head.
“She’ll be here around six-ish, so be ready.” Strify nodded.
“Gah. I will be. Thanks for giving me the girl. How old is she?”
“Seventeen.”
“Greeeaaat. You dump me with the hormonal teenager. Thanks. Oh well, I suppose I owe it to you. I’ll take good care of her.” I half-smiled.
“Good. Thanks Lumi.” Strify grinned again, then he and Shin turned.
Now to get a start on cleaning... Yay.

* * * * *

There was a knock on my door. Another one. I could only assume that it was Cyndi.
“Hang on a second!” I called back, stirring the dinner.
Yes, I was cooking. It’s actually really fun, to be honest. I went and opened the door. Shin and Strify were standing in the corridor with bags. Pink bags. Eww. Why pink?
“Mind letting us in? Cyndi doesn’t exactly pack lightly.” Strify huffed.
“Oh. Dear. God.” I moaned, the stood aside.
The stumbled in and collapsed on the floor.
“So, um, anyway, I’m at the wretched place Mum and Dad sent me now. Yeah, I know. Oh totally. Yeaah. So, um, I like, uh, have to go now. Yah. Byee!” came the most sickly-sweet voice I’d ever heard.
Oh dear God. I was almost afraid to turn around, and with good reason. She stood at least a foot shorter than me, and that was with the stilettos. She wore a pink mini, a white halter neck top, and had pink streaks through white-blonde hair. Little love hearts hung from her ears, and she also wore a locket necklace and several bracelets and rings.
“Seb! What the heck?!” she cried.
“What?” Strify looked in her direction.
“OMG. Eww. Who is this freak?” she wrinkled her nose at the word ‘freak’.
“Okay, I am so not the freak here.” I glared.
She took a cautious step into my house.
“Oh eww! It’s all depressing in here!” she looked like she was about to cry.
“WHAT?!” I screeched.
“Well, uh, have fun you two!” Strify and Shin got up and ran out, slamming my door behind them.
“Fun? I think I’m going to die in here.” She spat.
“Allow me to show you to your room.” I said through clenched teeth.
“Is it as bad as this place?” she gestured around.
I just glared at her, then grabbed her bags and walked down the bedroom hall to the spare room.
“What the heck?” she looked around.
The room was the only undecorated one, so that any visitors weren’t so intimidated.
“You want me to paint it black?” I teased.
“Hell NO!”
I stared at her, grinning evilly, or at least I hoped I looked evil. She began to sniff at the air. I thought she was picking up on the black orchid candles I had burning in the lounge room, but apparently her nose had other ideas.
“Is something burning?” her eyes widened.
“Shit! The food!” I ran out of her room to the kitchen, where our food was indeed overcooked.
“Eww. You aren’t gonna make me eat that, are you?”
“You say eww far too much.”
“Well, too bad that eww is the only words I can use to describe anything in here. Believe me, I’m being generous by using eww.” She grinned sarcastically.
“Oh, ha ha.”
“What were we going to eat anyway?”
“Spaghetti bolognaise.”
“With mince?”
“Mhmm...”
Her eyes instantly filled with tears.
“What about the poor cow whose life was made solely for feeding you? You’ve just killed it!”
“Uh, hate to break it to you but, you know, it was already dead.”
“Well... It died a second time.”
“Oh my gosh. So if we can’t eat this, then what do you want to eat?”
“Sushi?”
“Fine with me...”
So we ordered take away sushi. After we ate, Cyndi claimed to be tired and went to bed. I sat up reading, as always. Finally, I went to bed, having forgotten that Cyndi existed.

* * * * *

I opened my eyes to face glow in the dark bats on my ceiling. I slowly sat up and yawned, stretching. Finally, I got out of my bed, wearing nothing but black boxers. I slowly rubbed my hands up and down my sides, feeling my ribs jutting out everywhere. Maybe Yu was right... Maybe I did need to eat more... I slowly opened my door and went out to my kitchen, perusing the cereal in the cupboard.
“HOLY SHIT! YOU’RE SHIRTLESS!” came a scream.
A sickly-sweet, high pitched, girly scream.
A head was poking out just above one of the pillows on my couch. White blonde and pink hair spilled over the top. Dear God, it was her. I suddenly felt particularly self-conscious, wrapped my arms over my skinny body and ran back to my room. She. Saw. Me. Shirtless. Hell no. I didn’t emerge again until I had gotten dressed. Black jeans, a fishnet shirt with a crimson tie over the top, and a black jacket. Nothing too fancy.
“What the hell are you wearing?” Cyndi went bug-eyed.
“Clothes.” I replied in monotone, shooting her an uninterested glance.
“Holy cow, you scare me.” She shook her head, hair flying everywhere.
“Nowhere near as much as your love for the colour pink scares me, believe me.”
“What? How could you be scared of the colour pink?”
“How could you be scared of the colour black?”
“Way easier than being scared of pink, I’ll tell you that much.”
I shook my head. She was such a girl!
“Man up a bit, would you? You act like such a girl!” I spat at her.
“Oh, ha. I wonder why I act like a girl. What’s your name again? Lumina? I know they call you Lumi for short. Lumina? Baha. YOU should act like a girl, you gaybo.” She fired up.
“Yeah, I probably should, hence you should act like a man.” I glared.
I was so not retaliating to the gay joke. All she could do was stick her tongue out at me, so I continued on to the kitchen, still perusing the cereal. She came in a few seconds later to rinse a bowl.
“How did you find anything in here? I don’t recall showing you around the kitchen.”
“Well I went hunting. End of story.” She glared, then waltzed out of the kitchen.
“Fine.” I said to myself, throwing my arms up in the air.
After breakfast, I announced that I was going grocery shopping, and perhaps would stop and get a few other things while I was out.
“Do you want to come?”
“No.”
“Don’t do anything reckless.” I narrowed my eyes at her.
“Eh.” She shrugged.
Bitch had an attitude problem. Why did I agree to this in the first place?
So I went out.

* * * * *

I stood in the elevator, laden with bags. I hoped that Cyndi hadn’t run away from me. Strify would never forgive me if she did. I had been gone for at least four hours, (emphasis on at least), and so what she got up to while I was away was a mystery. Finally, at my door, fumbling for keys. The lock turned and I swung the door open...
“WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE?!”
I usually try not to swear, especially out loud, but the defilement of my flat was unbelievably horrible. Like a horror house, except four times worse. Ten times worse. Words that weren’t profanities just couldn’t describe... didn’t do this scene justice.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” she grinned at me.
I honestly felt like vomiting.
My BLACK couches had PINK throws on them. My BLACK walls were now covered in PINK posters of cutsie things like My Little Pony, and kittens, and puppies. My BLACK curtains were now PINK. My BLACK carpet had PINK rugs all over it. As I inspected the rest of my house, I found that little scented pinecones were hanging off all light bulbs, my kitchen had been redecorated. My toilet even had a fucking pink fluffy seat cover. My bedroom was worse. It had gone from being a dark gothic cove to looking like a princess’s bedroom. Or the inside of a candy floss stick. Either one. Pink candy floss, may I add. BRIGHT and PINK and FLUFFY. Unable to bear this, I went to what would hopefully be the last thriving gothic place in my apartment; my wardrobe.

*Random P.O.V. Change... Strify.*

We were sitting watching TV. Suddenly, a sentence of profanities floated through our window.
“CYNDI, WHAT THE FUCK?!”
“Think they’re getting along?” Shin looked at me.
“Yeah, course. Everyone loves Cyndi.” I nodded absently, my eyes glued to the screen.
“You aren’t even paying attention to me.” Shin pouted.
Aww, adorable pout. I put my lips softly over that pout. Kissing him sent electricity through my veins.

*Back to Lumi’s P.O.V.*

It was all gone. Everything. All my black. Now, I only owned your stereotypical homosexual clothing. Jeans that are far too tight. Shirts that hang open halfway down your chest, whilst being extremely body hugging at the same time. And all in BRIGHT, HAPPY colours. That’s it, my life as I know it is over.
“Cyndi, I’m going to ask this nicely once. Where are my clothes?”
I tried to stay calm. I heard once that getting mad with children won’t help them understand you any better.
“Uhm...” she looked absently out my window.
I rushed over and looked down to see a hobo on the street... Selling off the entirety of my closet.
“Okay, that is it.” I began to storm back downstairs, slipping on the shopping bags which I had dropped at the door.
“Put those away, would you?” I glared at Cyndi, who looked plainly terrified of me.
Then, I continued to storm downstairs to the hobo with my wardrobe.
“Could I please have my clothes back?” I pleaded.
“Oh my God, you’re Luminor!” the hobo squealed.
“Yes, and I would like my clothes back.”
“Oh my God. Luminor’s clothes for sale! Get Luminor from Cinema Bizarre’s clothes here!” he began to yell.
“No, no, no. I want those.”
“Then buy them.”
“Why should I have to buy them? They legally belong to me.”
“Not anymore they don’t. Some blonde haired chick sold them to me. I paid good money for these, and so now you can pay me back.”
After quite a while, I managed to buy all my clothes back, then I went back to my apartment. Cyndi was sitting on the couch, staring into space, so I went to my bedroom to replenish my wardrobe. Then I began to throw all the disgusting clothes out my window. So what if some landed on Romeo’s balcony and windowsill? That’s not my problem. He can look like he’s had gay sex for all I care. Cyndi called out something that I paid no attention to, for I had returned to reading. I would fix my house later, but right now, I needed an escape, and an escape was a book. After a few minutes, I decided I needed to go to the bathroom. Upon opening the door, I heard the shower running. Had I forgotten to turn it off? I turned to look... And holy hell, there was Cyndi. Her sleek body glimmered while water cascaded down from the shower head. She was skinny, and beautiful. I must admit, I had never harboured any desire to see a female undressed, but I found myself unable to tear my eyes from her. So this was what the female body looked like. Caught up in her, I nearly fell, and grabbed the towel rack for support. Eventually, she turned off the shower. She kept her eyes closed because of the water dripping in her face, and groped for a towel. Her hand landed on mine, and instantly, her eyes flew open.
“HOLY SHIT!” she screamed, grabbing a towel and holding it in front of her.
I just stood there, bug-eyed, I’m sure.
“Okay. Let’s deal with this properly... How long were you standing there?”
“I can’t remember...” I replied absently.
“Oh come on, you were obviously already in here. What was the first thing you saw me doing?”
I tried to remember...
“Washing your hair.” That was it.
“WHAT?! That was at least half an hour ago!” she screamed.
“Uhm...” I really couldn’t say much.
“Get OUT!” she yelled.
Pulling myself from my position on the floor wasn’t easy, but I managed to get myself into my bedroom before collapsing on my bed. Her body was the only thing I could visualise.
“Luminor?” she came into my room and sat on my bed.
“Huh? What?” I shot up instantly.
“Why were you spying on me?” she looked at me, confused.
“I...” Words were currently fleeting me.
“You’re gay, aren’t you? So then why?” she continued to watch my face for any reaction whatsoever.
“I... I didn’t know you were in there.” I replied, finally.
“Well, that’s a load of bullshit, now, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“I told you quite clearly that I was going for a shower.”
“What? Oh... That’s what you said to me.”
“Huh?”
“I... I didn’t hear you... I was... reading...”
“Oh, as if. You’re secretly straight, aren’t you?”
“What? Eww, no!”
“Gosh, Luminor... Such a bad liar.” She spat, then left my room.
Oh God, what was I going to do now?
Well, the answer was not much.
I returned to reading, only to realise seconds later that I had not yet been to the bathroom. After, I returned to my book once again, whilst Cyndi watched TV. At dinner time, I made some noodles, then decided to eat in my room with my book, although I suppose I was really avoiding Cyndi. When it got later, I decided to go for a shower myself, seeing as I hadn’t had one since last night.
The hot water felt nice against my skin, and I tipped my head up, feeling the water gushing down over my face. Suddenly, the images of Cyndi wearing nothing returned. I couldn’t help but to touch myself, pretending I was Cyndi. My skin prickled, and I let out a soft moan. After a few minutes of this, I returned my attention back to showering. After having washed completely, I turned off the taps and shivered in the coolness that settled the second the hot water shut off. Upon opening the shower door, I came face to face with Cyndi.
“WHAT THE?!” I screeched.
“Just repaying the favour.” She poked out her tongue.
I stood there, immobilised.
“Oh dear God, you’re awful. Have a towel.” She grabbed a towel off the rack and handed it to me.
“I’ll ask nicely, could you please leave?”
“Was it me?”
“What? Was what you?”
“When you were... you know...”
“WHAT?! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN HERE?!”
dé ja vú
“Since the beginning.”
“Of my shower?”
“No, the beginning of the world. What do you think?”
“But... butbutbut!”
“Can you answer my question?”
I stared at her blankly.
“Was it me?”
I just left the bathroom. That was the last thing she needed to know. My hands shook as I got dressed. I was in denial, I swear. Actually, stuff denial. Strify was going to die.
“Lumina? Was it me?!” Cyndi’s voice echoed through my door.
“Why do you care?!” I replied, death staring where I imagined she would be standing.
She went quiet, then eventually left my door.
“Exactly.” I muttered to myself.
I went to bed in a foul mood.

* * * * *

My eyes opened, yet again confronting me with the glow in the dark bats. I truly love those bats. I carefully got dressed before leaving my room. My eyes stung at the shocking amount on pink in my flat, and I saw Cyndi curled up on the couch. What was she doing? Was she reading my book?
“Morning.” I said as I walked past.
She instantly put my book back on the coffee table.
“Morning Luminor.”
“So anyway, I had this awesome idea.” I began, whilst walking into the kitchen.
“Oh no, you had an idea? Spare my life, please.” She groaned, coming in behind me.
“And anyway, I was thinking-”
“You were thinking? Even worse!” she interrupted.
“Yeah, yeah. I am going to take you clothes shopping!”
“WHAT?!” was the reply.
“Look, I just want to show you that there’s some stuff out there that’s gothic and isn’t scary as you say...”
“That’s possible?” she replied in monotone, staring dead-ahead.
“Believe me, it is!”
“O-kay then…” she didn’t sound convinced.
So I took her to one of my favourite stores downtown. She paused in the doorway, observing everything around her.
“Here, I’ll give you some stuff to try on.” I grinned, rubbing my hands together.
She seemed frozen to the spot.
I went around, gathering up a black and red corset, pink fishnet tights, a white mini with spider webs embroidered around the edges and up the sides, and a pair of deep purple platform boots with extremely thick soles and chains hanging down the sides. She took them gingerly in her hands, then walked like a zombie to a change room. I stood outside her cubicle, waiting for what seemed like forever.
“Are you dead? Did I kill you?” I asked.
“No… I need… Help…” she muttered.
“My help?”
“No, Luminor, the pervert who lives next door. Yes, your help!”
A pervert lived next door?
I went cautiously into the cubicle. She was fiddling with some intricate ribbon work on the front of the corset. I sighed and shook my head, then bent before her and began to fix it for her. When I finished, she admired her reflection.
“And the verdict is…?”
“I… I like it…” she looked amazing… I mean amazed. She looked amazed.
I am not lovesick. Or love struck. I simply admire the beauty of the female standing before me… I mean the female body. Dear God, what’s wrong with me?
“Luminor?”
“I… I think I need to sit down…”
And gather my thoughts…
“Oh, do you want to go?”
“No, feel free to shop.”
I exited the cubicle, then sat on one of the purple velvet seats they had in the changing area, trying to set my mind straight. Cyndi eventually came back to me, arms laden with clothing.
“Could you… please… buy this for me?”
I sighed. The things I do for womankind.
After paying, we returned to my flat. She went to the spare room, putting away all the clothes, whilst I sat on the couch, picking up my book. I was just getting back into the storyline when…
“Luminor?”
I looked up, watching her over the top of my book.
“Can you please try to intimidate me a little less?”
I closed my book on the bookmark.
“Was it me?”
Oh what? We’re back to this again?!
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because I’m curious.”
I sighed.
“It was, wasn’t it?”
“Cyndi…”
“Luminor, have you ever kissed a girl?”
“WHAT?!” I stared at her.
“Just answer the question.”
“N-no…”
She leaned forward and kissed me squarely on the lips. I filled with disbelief, but more with passion, and a longing that I hadn’t known was there. I raked my hands softly through her hair, and she linked her fingers behind my neck. She moved so that she was sitting on me, making this a little less awkward. When she finally broke her lips from mine, she rolled her head forward so that her forehead was on mine.
“You scare me… But I like it.” She admitted.
“And you’re a girl… But, I can’t say I hate it.” I moaned.
“I’ve known you almost three days.”
“And I’ve known you almost three days.”
“Permission to kiss you again?”
“Permission granted.”
She placed her lips back on mine. I ran my tongue over her bottom lip. Ooh, strawberry! Yum!

*A week later*

We stood in Strify and Shin’s apartment, telling them about how Cyndi wanted to stay. And why she was staying. And how me and her were now dating.
“And so yeah.. We’re going out.” She concluded.
“WHAT?!” Strify screeched.
“What’s wrong, Seb?”
“But he’s gay!”
“Erm… I would rather you use the term bisexual.” I corrected.
“Butbutbut!”
“What Strify? Spit it out.”
“But I made her stay with you because you’re gay!”
Shin shot a worried glance at Strify.
“What?”
“Sebastian!” Cyndi screeched.
“I didn’t want you to date her! I didn’t want ANYONE to date her! I didn’t think you would make a move on her!”
I just stared at him.
Say what?!
“Strife, I think you’d better be quiet.” Shin took Strify’s hand.
“Oh my God. Most untrusting cousin in the world!” Cyndi glared at him.
“And for good reason.” Strify just glared back.
“Well, I am with Luminor now. Deal with it.”
“I’m going to have to.” Strify grumbled.