GUYS, GUYS, I'M ALIIVE! I'm gonna keep the babbling for the end. I just want to say this is a sequel to the christmas one-shot (mainly the theory I set up in it). There are one or two references to the one-shot in this story, but nothing major. Basically, the theory was that v1 Hiroshi is v6 Hiroshi, but later in his life (after the events of v6, of course)

Enjoy!

The Story Repeats

There's a light summer breeze outside. It's absolutely great to feel. After being the victims of snowstorms, frozen highways, snow-filled boots, summer break is finally there. Well, almost. There's still the exam week coming. It's actually starting tomorrow, and I haven't started studying. I don't really feel like it now, though. Didn't feel like it the whole weekend. I don't think you can blame me for that. I lived a nightmare two times. The first time was a couple of years ago, back when I was only a sophomore. The second time was two days ago. Doesn't really give the mood to study, huh? I could just try to forget it like the first time, but it's not the right thing to do, I'm sure of that. There's something I need to let out, and since orally will make people think I'm insane, I figured out the good old paper will do.

I should really call Kazuya soon. Or just send a text. Both of them would be alright for us. We didn't really talk since we got back. It didn't become awkward or anything, we just didn't talk during the week-end. It happens. I don't know how he's handling this, and he's not the high-spirited type of boy. Maybe he didn't even get out of his room of the whole week-end, and I have no idea.

To come back to the real purpose of this piece of paper, I have to say I didn't go in that mansion for the thrill, or even agreed to go back in that nightmare building. It all started while I was walking back from school with Kazuya. It had been a quite tiring week, and the brilliant Mr. Takuro-The-Almighty had decided that it would be great to have an end-of-year bullying session with us. He was known in the neighbourhood to be a real executioner. I really hated him, especially since he bares the name of one of my greatest friends. The real Takuro, the sophomore I knew, wasn't a jerk. Yes, his sarcasm could get annoying sometimes, but nobody really wanted to punch him in the face at mere sight. The worst? This asshole actually looks like him. Once that guy was on you, there was nothing you could do, but wait for it to end and hope he didn't like teasing you. Maybe he would have left us alone if Kazuya wasn't an easy target. I can't blame Kazuya for that, and I don't. It's just another one of the thousand what ifs I ask myself all the time. So, we were Takuro-The-Incredible's target this time, and he decided that on a Friday afternoon, he was taking us somewhere fun. It was to teach us to have fun, he said. Real blast. Thanks for the nightmares.

At first, my only worry was Kazuya. He's a so easy target; they could do anything to him. I wasn't so worried for myself. I can take punches and kicks quite easily, and insults never really reach me. Except maybe insane, but this isn't a very common bully-to-victim word.

Then, we reached it.

It was still tall and imposing. I recognized it right away. I didn't want to panic in front of everyone, but I'm not ashamed to tell I was screaming inside, and when we were forced in, I began to cry from the inside, but barely bit my lip from the outside. It was the same, but also not the same. Everything seemed bigger, more imposing and weirder. It was like if I didn't know the place. The hallways were longer, there were more doors and a whole part seemed to have been added. Aside from the general forms and the colors, I didn't remember the place. There was a conversation going on, but I wasn't really listening. I was stuck in a trance, terrified. I felt the demon would come through a door in any second and attack us. I could have yelled that we had to get out of here before we'd get stuck in there, but I knew that no one would believe anything I would say, except Kazuya.

A familiar sound got me out of my trance. Boy, I wished I had never heard that plate falling again. I wish I had turned deaf right before I could hear the sound of that trigger.

"Hey, Kazuya, go check that out for us," I heard Takuro-The-Perfect say.

I knew right away I shouldn't let Kazuya go get that plate. The monster would probably attack while he was gone and he didn't know about the demon. I told him about that monster once, but I never told him the whole thing, so he didn't even know we were in a mansion back at my sophomore year. If he got that plate, but didn't find us back at the entrance, he would go and look around for me, thinking Takuro-The-Awesome would have taken me somewhere random. Even knowing about the demon, he would have looked for me, but he would have been more careful. By the time I had thought about that, Takuro-The-Brilliant had managed to get Kazuya at the verge of tears.

"Stop that!" I just said out of nowhere. "I'm going instead."

While he was doing some other useless babble, I shot a glance at Kazuya, hoping he'd read in my look that something was not fine. Unfortunately, I don't think he read anything at all. I walked away and, directly when I turned that corner, I started sprinting to the room in front of me. I thought that maybe if I was quick enough, I could go back to them before the demon would attack. When I found the plate, the door behind me creaked open slowly. The sound got all of my body stiffened and shivering. I couldn't do anything, but stare at the opening getting wider. I was calling myself names in my head, trying to make my body move. I was frozen in place, a shiver passing over and over again through my whole body.

A shape whizzed through the opening and across my legs. It was just a cat. A fucking cat. I had been shivering my life out for a stupid cat. I forgot to take a shard of the plate and ran back toward the main hall. When I turned the corner, I knew I was way too late. Everyone was gone. Kazuya had been quite close to the stairs when I had been sent away, so I started with the upper floor. The first room I went in seemed awfully familiar. I should have known. I found one of the lackeys in that closet. He was out of this world, just like Takeshi last time. Difference: that guy was really out. I didn't really try to get Takeshi out of that closet, but I tried everything with the lackey. I shook him, risked to yell at him, and even slapped him, but he didn't react at all. He was what I should call a shaking statue. I gave up after a while and walked back out of there, closing the closet's doors.

That's when I felt like I had to check the bathroom. It was probably because I found the screwdriver there during my first time, or because I had a feeling Kazuya was there. I think it was a mix of the two.

Boy, it was a bad choice to go in there.

No screwdriver, no Kazuya. A dead body though, yes. The other lackey was lying in the bath, drowned. Last time, at that point, I hadn't even met Takuro (the sophomore one). There was already a death, and that terrified me. I thought I could save someone, since I knew this place, but I was wrong. I closed my eyes, took the key that boy was holding in his hand, and never got back in that bathroom. There was another thought. It terrified me even more. If this guy was dead, maybe Kazuya was too. Even knowing about this mansion, I couldn't save my friend. I could have let him go take the plate shard and ran to him when the monster attacked, but no, I was too dumb to think of that.

I was cursing at myself by the time I reached the library and unlocked it. It seemed a lot bigger than last time, and I was right. I found a key after I looked around. I knew it was there when I felt the freezing air swirling around me. I turned around and that demon was right there. I gasped and took a step back, only to hit the table behind me. I thought it would grab me and end it quickly with a bite, but it just stayed there, staring at me. Then, its eyes slightly widened and its disturbing smile did the same.

That's when I knew it had recognized me.

I don't remember clearly what happened next, but I knew I was running and, a couple of seconds later, I had locked myself in a room with the girl. She was part of Takuro's friends. I think she was his girlfriend or something, but I can't confirm. She didn't seem to be really scared, to be honest. This makes her a bit dumb to have refused to follow me. Everything seemed to be repeating itself from my last time. The plate shard, the demon in the library, and now, a girl who didn't want to follow me. She was different from Mika. Mika was terrified by the idea of seeing that horrible demon again and she tried to hide under the bed. That girl wasn't really scared and that barricade of beds could be swiped away by the demon easily. The only thing that was really keeping her safe was the locked door. I was still shocked about the demon, so I don't know the exact words during our exchange, but I know she refused to follow me. I think she wanted to wait for Takuro. I didn't insist. She looked like the really stubborn type of girl who always gets what she wants, and I didn't want to spend time arguing with her while Kazuya was out there and vulnerable.

I couldn't recognize the mansion while I was walking around. There weren't actual puzzles. Last time, I had to make a code out of numbers on a piano, and this time, there wasn't even a piano in here. I didn't know how I would get out of there a second time. I really thought I was done for, and that body in the bath wasn't helping me either. During my sophomore year, it looked like the demon was playing with us. It left Mika alone for quite some time before actually killing her and… infected her. It let Takeshi turn insane by his own feelings and… the slow rate it approached Takuro when he tripped was enough to give nightmares. I think it let him go after infecting him. I had thought I would turn deaf when he screamed in pain while transforming. I was just a lucky one the whole time, but I didn't think I would get lucky this time, especially since that monster didn't seem to be playing anymore. The guy in the bath was all human, and did not look like he was going to turn into one of these things. It was killing directly this time.

I encountered the lackey in the closet too. Though we didn't say a word. It would have been hard for him to speak with that brain scattered around in the attic. Even during Mika's death, where she was being eaten alive, I never saw as much blood as that. I don't really feel like going into details. I might throw up if I do. I did throw up back there. Drowned first, exploded head second, what would be next? A ripped open chest? Guts spilled all around? What if it would happen to Kazuya's body? How long would he feel the pain before dying? All these questions didn't help me feel better. I think the monster was playing with me. It was probably keeping the most painful and gory death to me.

Actually, I had the proof it was playing with me. There was a flashlight in his broken head, as if it was a sacred object on an altar. I closed my eyes, took the flashlight and got out of the room as fast as my shaking legs allowed me to. I opened my eyes only when the door was closed and I didn't even dare to look at my hands just in case there would be blood on them, because at my state, I could've thrown up another time at the mere sight of it.

It was the fifth time the monster was chasing me when I ran down the stairs and met him. By my expression, Kazuya knew I was being chased. He quickly took my hand and dragged me a bit farther. He entered a previously locked room and closed the door behind with the key. I never found the key because he was the one having it. It was another bathroom. There were glass shards scattered on the floor. I could already picture the next death. Someone pierced with all these shards with their wrists and neck slit. The feeling of those shards in my eyes made me feel sick. It didn't really help to picture all these scenarios. I turned toward Kazuya. He put the key in his pocket and looked up at me. I could tell he was relieved to see me. He probably looked all over the mansion too. I was relieved too. Seeing him there alive and smiling, it was one of the best things I could ever see, especially after the blown up head. One thing was keeping me worried though; the cut on his cheek. Based on my previous time at the mansion, a bare cut from the monster could be enough to turn you into one of those and maybe even kill you. I lost my smile right away seeing it.

"What happened to you?" I asked, looking at the cut.

He put his hand on it and looked away.

"That… one is my fault… I didn't really look where I was going."

I smiled again. I highly doubted an environment cut could turn someone into that demon, and I think I was right. I was so relieved, that I hugged him. I didn't care how "gay" it would look, or how awkward it could feel. I was just happy, and he was too since he hugged me back.

I felt extremely discouraged. Not about him, though, about the whole thing. I don't know how long we had been in there, but I was afraid of what this place could do to us. I was almost crying when we pulled away from each other.

"Kazuya… This place," I started, "I've already been in here…"

He grabbed my arm with both of his hands with a concerned expression. He had a guess.

"Is it where your friends…" he didn't end his sentence, but I knew what word was missing.

I nodded.

"Then that's good, right?" he said hesitantly. "That means you know the place."

My throat tightened and I shook my head.

"I don't recognize this place at all… Everything has changed, everything is bigger, everything is happening too soon, e-everyt-"

"Hiroshi," he said, forcing me to shut up, "You already found an exit to this place. That means there is one! We will get out, alright?"

He let go of my arm and walked to the door. I sat down at the other side of the room on a spot with no glass shards.

"The front door is surely not the right place; the door is cemented into the wall… Maybe there's a backdoor we didn't see yet, or a trap door we can access from a basement…" he turned towards me. "What do you think?"

I looked down at the glass shards scattered on the floor and took one of them. I don't know what happened in my head at that moment.

"I won't let you endure this..." I said quietly, but loud enough for him to hear me.

I wished he left the room at that moment. He had two seconds to get out of my way, but he didn't suspect anything and just looked at me, a bit confused. I raised the shard and leaped on him. I'm grateful that he had enough reflex to stop me before I would stab him in the chest.

"Hiroshi! W-w-what are you doing!?" he exclaimed, holding my arm up in the air.

"It won't have you, not you too..." I replied, still trying to bring down the shard.

"Stop!" he shouted.

I could feel his resistance weakening.

"I won't let you die by its hands..."

"Hiroshi! Please! Let go!" his arms keeping mine up began to shake.

I was way too strong for him, and I think he began to feel it. He pushed my arm sideways and let go, letting me bring down the shard and stab his leg. His cry made me snap out. The shard was still in his leg, but not too deep, happily. I backed away from him, and I felt like a horrible murderer. I could only stare at what I had done. Kazuya let himself fall in a sitting position and looked at the glass shard still in his leg, clearly hesitating about what he should do with it. He would start bleeding more if he removed it, but the injury would surely get infected if he kept it in for too long. I found this shard on the floor after all.

I removed my tie and took a step closer to him. His body stiffened, he suddenly looked up, and that was enough to tell me that he wasn't ready to let me touch him yet. I can't say I blame him, even then I perfectly understood and kept a reasonable distance. I let my tie fall near him and took a step back.

"You should use it as a bandage," I said, avoiding his look.

I'm not the type of guy to avoid looks, but I was really ashamed of myself. If the expression "die of shame" was literal, my body would have been at an advanced level of decay by then. I was sure he wouldn't trust me yet, so I let him remove the shard and cover the injury by himself. Kazuya barely looked up and back at his leg, and I knew it was his way to thank me. I looked away when he removed the shard from his leg and used my tie to wrap it up. I couldn't get myself to shoot a glance at what I had done. We both remained silent for several minutes, me standing, him sitting.

"We are getting out of here..." he finally said, breaking the silence.

I didn't answer. Someone was probably going to get out, but was it going to be me again? Was it going to be him? The girl upstairs perhaps? I walked to the door and leaned next to it.

"Stay in there, you're safe in a locked room," I said.

I saw in his expression that he wasn't going to unlock the door for me.

"No, if you're going anywhere, I'm coming too!"

He stood up, and I could easily tell his leg was painful.

"S-see?" he forced a smile. "It doesn't hurt at all!"

I scoffed. I knew him enough to know he wouldn't sit back on the floor even if I tried to force him. He took out the key and unlocked the door. I went first and he limped behind me. We walked around the mansion at a slow pace, finding enough keys to get ourselves confused. When we got back in the main hall for the seventh time, we saw the demon rushing down the stairs toward us. I ran on my left, Kazuya limped to his right, and before I could turn back and join him, the monster was already between us. We were split in two, it was going to chase only one of us. It was going to chase me, it recognized me, it knew I was the boy who escaped its grasp a couple of years ago. Maybe it would have chased me if it didn't see Kazuya limping. When its huge black pupil turned toward him, I knew it wasn't thinking about me anymore.

"Kazuya!" I shouted, as if it could change something.

He only glanced back at me with a panicked look before limping away as fast as he could. It was going after him, and I couldn't anything to stop it. I thought about running past it to join Kazuya and help him with the running, but the hallway was too thigh, making the attempt comparable to suicide.

I ran up the stairs. The demon was chasing us especially when we found important things like a key. If I could find one of these items, maybe it would somehow realize it and go after me. Besides, I had escaped once, and I'm pretty sure it could relate "he escaped once, he can escape twice". I stormed in a room, pushed books off the shelves to find a helpful object. When I started to think there wouldn't be anything in that room, I quickly changed and searched in another one, even pushing the furniture on the ground to be sure I wouldn't miss anything. Then, I found it. A key. I grabbed it and shoved it in my pocket. It seemed I had been right, because the demon was in the room a mere 15 seconds later, staring down at me with those huge angry eyes. I felt like I had made my worst mistake, and I think I did. This monster showed me visions. Visions I wish I never had. Every death of my friends, but not their true ones… at least, I think.

Mika had her stomach covered in blood, but not from the demon's bite. Because of a plate shard. Her blood was soaking a sleeve, my sleeve. Even though she was already dead, I kept stabbing, laughing, crying, looking at her face stuck on an expression saying a lot about the pain she must have felt.

Takeshi was being strangled by the rope. He was desperately clawing the arms and legs forcing the strangling. My arms, my legs, my grin. He went limp, his eyes went blank, and I dragged him around with the rope until his neck was purple.

Takuro was the first one to mistrust me and keep his distance. Though when he unlocked the final door, I forced him on the ground, cut the top of his back open, and... I... pulled his spine out.

I took a step back, but didn't run. It couldn't have been me, I did see the demon eat Mika, Takeshi was hanged in the air, not on the floor, and Takuro turned into one of these things right in front of my eyes. But I did try to kill Kazuya earlier with a glass shard. I couldn't understand what was going on, or if this was even true.

"This... is... FAKE!" I yelled, shaking my head.

I ran past it, barely dodging its hand and hid in the nearest closet. I was still shocked from those visions. Even now I can't tell if they were showing me a hidden truth, or if it was an illusion. If it was the truth, then what was the demon's purpose in the mansion? Why was it there? Why did it kill the lackeys, but left my friends to me?

I left the closet when I thought about Kazuya. Where was he? Did the monster have the time to hurt him? Was he alright? Those questions were repeating themselves in my mind as I was getting down the stairs and running where I guessed he ran. I arrived in a room filled with bookshelves, and I somehow knew he was in there. I walked in front of each row until I saw him seated on the floor holding his leg and biting his lip.

"Kazuya!" I said, running to him. "Are you alright!?"

When I knelt in front of him, I knew he wasn't alright. He was extremely pale, almost white, and it was easy to see he was tired. He was taking deep and noisy breaths, and blood had soaked the right leg of his pants. I felt like a horrible person. I knew it was my fault if he was like this. I didn't want to see him like this. I didn't want the demon to see him either. It would probably realize he was an extremely easy target, and my body would never be enough to protect him. That thing would get him if I didn't do anything. It wasn't going to get him, whatever the cost.

Then I felt it. If I had held a glass shard at that moment, I would have killed him. I put my hands on my head and lowered it so I looked at the floor. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. It was coming.

"What's going on?" Kazuya asked.

"I'm going to kill you…" I answered with a shaky voice, "I don't want to… Please run."

My body didn't seem to obey me properly. I wanted him to crawl away from me, but he didn't move. I felt him grab my hands and bring them in my back. He was tying my wrists together. I looked up and he helped me sit up.

"You can't kill me now, right?" he said.

He stayed next to me the whole time. I think it's because of him that I didn't turn insane. It was good to have someone next to me, to know I wasn't alone.

I waited a couple of minutes to be sure I was fully back to my senses.

"It's alright," I said. "You can untie me now."

Kazuya didn't wait another minute and removed his tie from my wrists. He tied it around his leg and when he was done, he was shivering. He moaned at the pain and took deep breaths, his skin still as white as a sheet. He leaned on the bookshelf behind us with his eyes shut tight. A couple of seconds later, he passed out. I tried to wake him up, but he was clearly too knocked out. I decided to wait until he would wake up by himself. I had no idea how long I would wait, but I would have waited a whole day if needed.

I heard the door open after a moment. My body stiffened, but calmed down when I realized the steps were way too light to be the demon's. I got up on my feet and my eyes met Takuro's. I was still angry at him for taking us here. I joined him at the door.

"What's up?" he said.

Just that what's up was enough to make me want to punch him. We were stuck in this damned mansion, there were two death people already and the only thing he said about it was what's up.

"Well except that you forced us in this stupid place and that death is all around, nothing new," I answered curtly with my arms crossed.

"Geez, no need to be a jerk…"

"If there's one jerk here, it's you."

I know it probably didn't help start a decent conversation, but I just hated him. Him and his attitude.

"Blame me all ya want, I'm not responsible for that weird guy roaming around," he replied.

"You could've stayed away from this place. You could've kept this expedition for you and your lackeys!"

"It wouldn't have changed Ryota's fate," he said as if he had known he would've died in the bath before it even happened. He didn't seem to care about his lackeys.

"You found him?"

"While drowning? Yes."

"Wait, you watched him drown!?"

"Yeah," he answered casually, as if he did this on a daily basis.

I clenched my fist and I had to fight against my arm to not punch him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" I almost shouted.

"Stop screeching, will ya? Ya're making my head hurt."

"I'm sure your friend's head hurt more!"

He looked at me as if I just spoke German.

"You know," I continued, "the one with the brain scattered all around the room."

When he stared at me with wide eyes, I realized he didn't know about him. He wasn't going to say anything, so I got out the key to the room with the girl.

"There's that girl upstairs," I started as I tossed the key to him. "She refused to follow me. I think she's waiting for her prince charming or something. It would be nice to get her out of that room, because she's not extremely protected."

Takuro didn't answer and exited the room with the key in his hand. Maybe he was a bit shocked. I didn't know him, I can't tell. Maybe he did care about them, I don't know. I was heading back toward Kazuya when I heard him scream. I forgot about my own safety and ran after him.

Snap, hack, moan, crack

The four last sounds coming from Takuro. The four sounds I heard before I saw his mangled body and his crushed head lying in a puddle of blood in the corner of the room. The demon was next to him and looked up at me when it heard the door close. I knew it would be fatal for Kazuya if I ran back in the room, so I targeted the other door at a fair distance from the monster. I sprinted there and I ran back into one of the main hallways. I looked behind me just to be sure the monster was chasing me. It looked somehow… determined to catch me. It seemed to be gaining speed. I ran upstairs and darted to the first room I could lock with a key. I got in, slammed the door and leaned on it. I got out all of my keys and tried each one on the door. The demon was trying to open it, and I could somehow keep the door closed with the bare weight of my body. I finally found the good key and locked the door. I backed away, my shaking legs barely supporting me. When I made contact with the wall, I let myself fall on the floor and stared at the door, trying to control my breath. I sighed and closed my eyes. I don't know how, maybe because of the exhaustion brought by running around all the time, but I fell asleep.

I don't remember well my dream, just the end. It's because of that part that I woke up. It's when Kazuya was looking at me with a worried look.

"Did you forget about me?" he had said, which triggered the thought of him in that room on the ground floor.

No, never.

It popped my eyes open and a second after, I was quickly gathering my keys and unlocking the door. I got back to the ground floor and headed to the room where I left him. I ran to the good row of bookshelves, but he wasn't there. The only thing that was left of him was blood. A lot. I took a couple of steps closer and fell to my knees. The monster had gotten him. I would have been able to protect him if I hadn't fallen asleep. It was my fault and I perfectly knew it. I could see him trying to keep himself out of the demon's mouth, screaming, calling for help. I could see his head and shoulders getting bitten off, his arms falling off with the blood and his body getting limp.

There was a key at that spot. It was covered in blood. I grabbed the key, stared at it for a second, and squeezed it. I was so mad, but at the same time, I wanted to cry forever. I sort of did a compromise. I screamed. I didn't care if this thing would find me. It began as a scream of anger and I ended it in tears. As I had predicted, I had lured the monster to me. It approached slowly, but I didn't find the strength to stand up and run. I just looked at it coming closer, preparing itself to grab me and end my life. I was okay with it. Until I thought of one last fight. One last run. It didn't deserve to have me easily like that. I think it was part of its plan to get me. Kazuya was one of my fragile chords, as well as my old friends. It used it to get me, I was sure of it.

I leaped out of the way when its hand reached out to grab me. I ran out of the room and reached the other side of the main hall. I remembered there was a door in here that was still locked. I prepared the key and unlocked the door as fast as I could. As soon as I ran down the stairs, I stopped hearing the demon's heavy steps. Why had it stopped chasing me? I had no idea. I felt as if I was walking straight into a trap, but this whole place was a trap anyway. I reached an oddly familiar cave after a moment. When I walked in the hallway of rocks and turned the corner, I realized why.

The rope ladder.

I gasped and rushed to it. I was finally able to get out, I could escape right in the monster's face for the second time! Something stopped me when I put my hand on it, though. That girl upstairs. I couldn't let her in here. Nobody deserves to be left in here. I think that even if it would have been Takuro up there, I would have fetched him. I had a terrible feeling when I left the cave, maybe I should have listened to it. I should have; that girl was already dead anyway. When I got to the room, her ripped open chest and ripped jaw welcomed me. What a sight. Any who would have seen this was guaranteed to have a nightmare or two. I did get those, by the way. The demon had probably found the key on Takuro's body and used it to get her.

That's when the horrible feeling I had back in the basement tightened my heart another time. I ran back in the cave. That's when I regretted my two last choices: getting the girl and coming back here with a sprint. The monster was eating my way out. That's why it had stopped chasing me. It remembered me enough to know I would not have left that girl upstairs. It had kept playing with me until the end. It had taken everyone who came in here with me, and now it was going to play one last game of tag. It would probably not give up; I was the last thing left to play with in this house, and I was already exhausted from my sprint.

I turned away and ran back in the main hall. I knew it was my last fight, I couldn't do anything, but count on my fear to keep me alive. It gave up on me quite quickly. I was far from the monster because of that other desperate sprint, but at that moment, even my fear couldn't get my legs to move. I fell to my knees right in the middle of the main hall, my heavy breath being probably enough to lure the demon to me. It was going to end where it all started. A bit ironic. I didn't see it, but I knew that thing was still chasing me. I fell on my stomach and I closed my eyes. For the first time ever, I was ready to die. I could already feel darkness engulf me and take me away forever.

Then, there was a bright light in the darkness. A voice waking me up from that eternal sleep calling me.

"Hiroshi!"

I looked up. Kazuya was there. His leg was surely painful, but he looked fine. His clothes had darker spots and his hair was plastered on his face, as if he stood in the rain for a while. Life came back in my whole body. I stood up and joined him, even though my legs were shouting to me they wouldn't last long. If it wasn't about the monster, I would have hugged him a second time.

"I found an exit!" he exclaimed, grabbing my hand.

I thought he was talking about the torn up ladder.

"But–"

"Trust me!"

That's what I did. That's what I always did. Each time he'd say that, I'd follow his order and I'd never be disappointed. As usual, he stuck a smile on my tired face. There was a second rope ladder, and it wasn't tattered and torn. We ran to it and put our hands on it at the same time.

"Go first," he said.

"You're the one who's injured, you go first," I replied rapidly.

He was familiar enough with me to know I wasn't letting him go second. He started climbing up the ladder, and I could tell his leg wasn't helping him. When there was enough space for me, I began to climb up too. I heard the basement door close from afar. It was coming.

"Faster! Faster!" I exclaimed.

"I'm trying!"

I was beginning to panic, and I think he felt it. He probably heard the monster too. We were almost at the top when he moaned. Drops fell on my right cheek. He stopped for a few seconds.

"We don't have time for this! Keep climbing!" I shouted.

"S-s-sorry!"

I could see the demon coming toward us. He finally reached the top of the ladder and got outside. When I reached the well's stones, it showed its teeth and grabbed the ladder with them. It was going to pull it in, and I would go down with it if I didn't get off of it in two seconds.

1
2

I felt myself being pulled backwards. I screamed, thinking the demon's mouth was my next destination, but two firm things grabbed my arm. Kazuya's hands. I thought he had collapsed because of his leg, but he was still standing and pulling me up. I could hear the monster roar down there. It had let me escape with somebody, and it wasn't happy about it. I didn't care how much it would roar, I was out of there and I was never coming back. I finally touched the wet grass from the rain, and the cold feeling in my shoe felt like the greatest thing ever. Kazuya and I looked at each other for a moment, relieved and happy to be finally out. He looked down, closed his eyes, and a second later, he collapsed. I caught him in an awkward hug position before he'd fall on the ground. My legs started shaking. I knew they were going to give up like Kazuya's. I sat down on the grass, leaning on the well behind me, still hugging him. I could feel him shivering in my arms, so I held him a bit tighter and leaned my cheek on the top of his head.

"S-see? I t-told you w-we'd g-get out..." he stuttered with a little smile.

"Yeah, you were right, you're always right," I answered.

"E-except in m-math..." he replied with a little laugh.

I smiled. We were still next to the source of my nightmares, we were both drained by this whole thing, but at that moment, I felt like the happiest boy on earth.

After my legs had rested a bit, I got up and placed Kazuya in a better position for me to walk. He had his arm around my shoulders and I was holding him by the waist. He was faintly walking with his left leg, but he kept his right one completely limp. It was getting a moan out of him from times to times, but it didn't seem to be bleeding too much. It looked like our two ties together had been just enough.

According to Kazuya's watch, it was three in the morning when we got back to town. Not enough for an investigation to be started, but more than enough for our parents to worry a lot. My house was the nearest, so we headed there. Well, I headed there. Kazuya's leg movement to help me move him around wasn't really helping anymore. When we reached my front door, I took my house keys inside my jacket. I didn't know what I'd do with the others (I don't know even now; they are still in one of my drawers in my room). I was quite lucky I didn't lose my keys in the mansion. I'm sure my parents had thought about something like leaving the backdoor unlocked or something in case I didn't have them. When your child disappears, I think it's probably okay to momentarily forget the low chance that a burglar might come in. I got in the house and decided to make some noise. My legs still felt shaky, and I was more than sure my parents would forgive me for waking them up with a start. I slammed the door, then fell to my knees. Kazuya moaned. I think the way I fell down hurt his leg. I punched the wall too, and that's when I heard the steps in the stairs. The lights in the house blinded me, but I perfectly knew they were my parents.

"Oh my god!" I heard my mom say.

Just by her tone of voice, I knew she wanted to cry. I stood up and tried to open my eyes. I think my dad saw the blood on Kazuya's pants, because he grabbed him and took him to the couch while my mom helped me walk and sit down on one of the kitchen chairs, right next to the living room where I could clearly see Kazuya on the couch. She grabbed the phone and I knew she was calling Kazuya's parents. They lived two streets away from my house. It's a bit weird to know we lived so close by for years, but never got to talk to each other. Our parents met a couple of times after realizing we were hanging out together a lot and our families grew quite close over time. Meanwhile, my dad had this weird kit that had been sitting in the bathroom's closet for a while. He's a pharmacist, and when he learned how full and slow the hospitals got around here, he brought home a couple of things. I don't know what most of it is for, but he seems to know very well. If it could prevent forcing Kazuya to walk and bleed more, it made me happy. I think it made Kazuya happy too. It must have been very painful for him, so he was probably glad to have someone taking care of him now instead of waiting for hours in a filled hospital before getting proper treatment.

Kazuya's parents arrived a couple of minutes later. I could easily tell they had been worried too, if not even more than my parents. They barely glanced at me before walking to the couch where my dad was still taking care of him. I'm not mad at them or anything. I would've done the same thing. I mean, I barely had shaky legs and a couple of drops of blood in my face. He was stabbed in the leg. By me. I didn't know how I would explain that. I still felt bad for it. I still do now. Not only because of the action itself, also because of what it brought. Since I had stabbed him, his leg had turned into a real burden the whole time. My mom took care of me while my dad was finishing up with Kazuya. She wiped out the blood with a cloth and took me to another couch in the living room. She told me to get some sleep (I probably looked very tired, I didn't really ask any details since then), but I wanted to stay awake at least until I knew Kazuya would be fine. It's when my dad took his things away with a relieved smile that I knew I wouldn't be the cause of anything too severe. He was still awake. His parents were talking to him, but I knew he wasn't really listening. He kept glancing at me. At one point, he just stared, and I knew by his look that he felt sorry for me. Maybe he remembered our conversation in the bathroom when I told him I had already been in there. Then, he smiled and that was such a relief that I fell asleep the following minute.

When I woke up at eleven the other morning after my first nightmare, I was still on the couch with a blanket on me. It was the same for Kazuya. We had been both asleep even though our parents were eating breakfast in the other room. They were rather quiet, though. They were probably still shocked from yesterday. I was too, and I'm pretty sure Kazuya wasn't an exception either.

It's after breakfast that we had to make up a story. We both knew they wouldn't believe us if we told them about the monster. I don't remember exactly what we said, but we basically told a story about a group of bullies who took us into the woods and abandoned us somewhere because they thought it was funny. We used Takuro's group because they had all died anyway. It's the excuse for Kazuya's leg that I remember clearly.

"That's… my fault," I admitted when our parents asked about it.

"Not really, it was an accident," he replied, looking at me as if he was trying to convince me it was an accident. "When they left us, Hiroshi thought they were going to come back to take us somewhere else, beat us up or whatever. There was a broken beer bottle not far from us, so he took a shard and came back. Thing is, he tripped on a log and I was too slow to get out of the way."

He helped me a lot during the storytelling. After the explanations and convincing them to not call the police for Takuro's case, Kazuya went back home, but I could tell he was still shocked from the experience. That's why I'm thinking of calling him. Now that I finally let it all out somewhere, I shouldn't be all tensed up. Who knows? Maybe we'll be able to have a normal conversation over little things. I hope so. I don't want this to destroy him, not like it destroyed me during my sophomore year, when I broke down crying each time I looked at Mika's scrapbook. He's not going to break down. Not on my watch. That's probably why I was unable to be happy at that time. Nobody was there. Nobody I could trust, nobody who wouldn't call me insane, nobody who was trying to comfort me and assure me it was really over. When I had nightmares, I didn't talk about them. Who wouldn't think I was a psycho when I'd tell them I dreamt about my missing friends' deaths? Who wouldn't call me insane if I said I had hallucinations of me murdering them back there? Kazuya is the only one, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one for him. We're each other's ears, we're our lights in the darkness, we're the ones keeping ourselves sane. That's why I have to talk to him. He has to know that. I want him to know I'll be there for him, that I'll carry him around just like back in those woods if he needs me to, that I'll pull him out of this dark well like he did back there if he's falling down. Most importantly, I want him to know I'll never hurt him again like I did in there with the glass shard.

He'll know it, I'll make sure he does.

Damn, it was long to write, but damn, it was long! I hope you enjoyed too!

It's not the end of the story yet. If you think of it for a moment, I think you'll find out what's the next chapter's gonna be~
It took me three weeks or so to write this, geez! I hope I'm better with first person than last time *coughunknowntalecough*
I was a bit scared to try it out another time, but it would have never worked out if I had used the 3rd person.

Anon, I'd like to have a proof-reader, but I can't. My friend on this site is already proof-reading Unknown Take and I don't want to toss her too much stories. About the people where I live... The few ones who can read English properly are either already reading my side project, or take months before starting to think about checking the stuff I sent them. Oh, and one of them doesn't want to read me because I traumatized her with all the gore and sadness I put in my stuff. She's the unicorn, rainbow and romance type :P So basically, I got no one, but myself for most of my stories.

If you don't like babbling, here's the time to leave... You don't mind? Oh, okay.
I know I've been in a huge hiatus. I had just lost the interest in writing lately. It's not that I don't like it, I just didn't write that much. I was more drawing lately, so I was more active on Deviantart. The only thing I actually wrote is a fanfic that I never posted anywhere because I knew it could go in hiatus at anytime, and I was right. I wrote three chapters during the summer and lost inspiration until the beginning of the month.

School is also taking a lot of my time this year. It's really harder compared to last year, so it's getting me down a lot and easily drained. Besides, I have to start my side-project all over, and this doesn't help a lot with my motivation.
I can't tell how often I'll post something, but I'm not giving up on writing or this site! I just can't be as regular and as quick as I used to be.

Thanks a bunch if you understand :)

As usual, please leave a review and I'll see you in the next chapter!