Nobody remembers falling asleep. Yet you remember waking up. You sometimes remember dreaming. It's a strange cycle that seems to work backwards with memory.

In any case.

Neither Ryou nor I remembered falling asleep. Or if we had even fallen asleep in the first place. No, there was a weird taste in my mouth. Drugs? Why-

This room was unfamiliar to me. Looking around now, I finally took in my surroundings more clearly. A bedroom. And I was propped on the bed, seemingly with care. But. This wasn't my bedroom. I didn't have ugly yellow sheets like this. I didn't own a computer propped against one corner. I didn't own a roll-top desk.

What-

Then shuffling behind me. It dawned on me-Ryou! The familiar sight of his white hair was calming, but only for a moment. I shook his shoulder, trying to get him awake too.

Just what was going on? Why were we here? Were we kidnapped? Oh god, oh god. "R-Ryou." My voice was shaking. Just. Wake up. I was panicking-panicking! Ryou-

"Malik?" His voice was groggy, confused, but at least he was awake now. Oh god, good, good, I needed him now. I was scared.

"Ryou, Ryou. Wake up. Now." I was shaking him, trying to get him to snap out of it. "Ryou, I-I don't know where we are. We need to leave." I wanted to leave.

Groaning a little, and obviously still groggy, Ryou sat up, his eyes not focusing right. Oh no, no, no, he wasn't waking up. Ryou, wake up. Wake up. "M..." He couldn't even say my name.

A shift from somewhere in the house, and then footsteps, coming closer to our room. Oh my god. Oh my god, my heart was pounding. Fuck fuck. Turning to Ryou, I tried shaking him awake again. Wake UP, please, wake up. Wake up.

"Awake already? That's pretty boring."

I froze. No. I couldn't look, but. My hand still on Ryou's shoulder, I turned slowly to look at the doorway to see a man standing there, grinning at me. Just. No. Where were we, why was this happening, were we just dreaming? Ryou, wake UP. Before I knew it, I don't know. It was just a habit. The words, "Help me," came out. Small, but still heard by the man at the door.

He cocked his head to the side, an amused expression on his face, and still he grinned. "Help...you? Why. You look pretty fine to me. You look like you don't need any help."

I was scared, I was scared! Oh my god, what- was he going to kill us? I knew, he had to have been the one to bring us here. He had to be our kidnapper. He HAD to be. Were we going to die? Oh my god, I don't even remember what happened. How did we end up here? Why? Why? What did we do? I was shaking, my hand still on Ryou's shoulder. He wasn't responding to me anymore. Just sitting there, staring off into space, like he wasn't even here.

But we'd been kidnapped, we'd been kidnapped. Shit, fuck. We were going to die, I knew it, I knew it. This man was going to kill us.

Still smiling, the man at the door moved his arm, making me flinch, because-what was he going to do? But he reached into his pocket, pulling out a...pocket knife? That smile was scary. Ryou, Ryou, just wake up. We can run. You just have to wake up and we can run away from wherever we were. "You know, you're quite beautiful. Both of you. You don't see many boys wandering around with looks like yours. You two could probably pass for girls if you really wanted to. Not that any of that matters."

With a quick flick, the knife was brandished, he moved himself all the way into the bedroom, still staring at us, still smiling, and licked the flat side of the blade. "You may call me Mariku. You won't remember it before too long, but I like hearing people scream my name."

Shit. Shit. Shit shit I was about to die.

And it was so quick, I had no time to react when Mariku crossed the room, knife raised, and nabbed my shirt collar. Instinctively, I grabbed at his hands, but his free hand came around and punched me in the face. "No, no."

And it was all a blur and I just wanted Ryou and me to be home and-and I was like an animal. Screaming, kicking, flailing, trying to get him off me when he ripped my shirt open to expose my bare chest. Then the knife hit my flesh, the air being knocked out of me. It-

I was going to die. Ryou. He was still sitting there, staring off, his eyes drooping. And I was still screaming. "N-NO, NO GET OFF, GET OFF! RYOU! RYOU! SOMEBODY, HELP ME!" But with every word I screamed out at the top of my lungs, Mariku smiled and held me down with his free hand, the other jabbing the knife into me and carving random things onto me, like he was drawing onto my chest and stomach. "GET OFF. PLEASE, PLEASE! STOP!" But it didn't matter. I was going to die anyway. No. No. No.

My blood dripped from the knife when he held it up to his face, grinning at me as he licked the blood off. "There. You're much prettier now. Not that you weren't before, but you know." Then he turned to Ryou. Oh no, no, no, god no. "As for your friend. Seems as though he's still a little sleepy. I wouldn't get near as much of a reaction out of him if I cut into him. No." The grin on his face only grew wider. "Perhaps I'll just have to stick my knife into other places. Below the belt sounds very nice."

No, no, no. Oh god. Fuck, fuck, if we were going to die. I'd-I'd at least want to die fighting. No. No. FUCK! While he was distracted, I took all the force I could muster and kneed him in the stomach while he was leaning over me.

It worked.

Choking and gasping for air, Mariku leaned back off me, cradling his stomach. Everything hurt, but it didn't matter now. It was pure adrenaline, and I reared my fist back and punched him in the face, sending him toppling off the side of the bed.

It hurt, it hurt! But, Ryou! Ryou, Ryou. "Ryou." Grabbing him, still pumped on whatever was fueling me, I managed to drag him off the bed while Mariku was bent over on the floor, still choking and coughing, trying to gain air.

Where was the front door, any door, to get us out, where where, oh fuck. The room outside the bedroom looked like a dining area. A large round table was placed in the middle, and a door was directly to our left. But upon opening it, it was only a bathroom. Fuck, we needed a door to GET OUT.

And Ryou was still falling asleep. Slumped over my shoulder, he probably had no idea what was going on, or that. We were about to di-that we were going to fight our way out of this place. The energy I had before was wearing off, and I could feel the searing pain in my chest again. Oh-I was dropping Ryou. He was heavy. No, no. I couldn't. I couldn't drag him anymore. I was all out of energy, and everything was focused on the cuts and lacerations in my chest. If we didn't get out fast, I'd die just from blood loss. FUCK, what do I do.

"That wasn't very nice of you." Mariku was recovering. And. I couldn't drag Ryou any further. No, god, god, no, no. I couldn't. I couldn't. Please. No. He was getting up off the floor, but I couldn't drag Ryou anymore. Everything hurt, I couldn't breathe, I was choking trying to drag two bodies.

He was right behind me, gathering himself, picking that knife back up. And.

And.

I.

Screamed, dropping Ryou and opening the bathroom door, I shut myself in, locking the door behind me, holding onto the handle as Mariku began beating on the door. It didn't look like much, but it was holding, and he must've realized, because then he started screaming, "OPEN THE GOD DAMN DOOR!" over and over.

My blood was coating the floor, and with every jerk the door did as Mariku pounded on it, I started crying, until I was choking and sobbing.

I'd abandoned Ryou. He-I just left him there, to save my own stupid ass. I'd abandoned my best friend, I just left him there. I-I abandoned him. I left him, I left him to die. Ryou, Ryou, I'm sorry. I left you. I'm sorry. I-I left you.

As if reading my mind, I could hear Mariku laugh on the other side of the door. "That was pretty cunty of you to leave your friend like that. Once I'm through with him, my little 'friend' and I are going to have some fun with you." By 'friend', I had to assume he meant the pocket knife.

Fuck. He was going to kill Ryou.

No. I couldn't stay here like a coward. We were going to die. I was going to die, we-everything was hopeless. But.

I would at least die trying to save us.

I unlocked the door, preparing to charge out kicking, screaming, and punching the guy until I made it to Ryou, but then the door wouldn't open. What? Pressing my weight onto it, I tried forcing it back, but it was like something was pressed against it. What?

Then Mariku laughed, and I could hear Ryou moaning a little, like he was still trying to wake up. O-oh my god, what was he doing to him. "Figured you'd try and run like the chicken shit you are. You're pretty weak. You can't even move a fucking drawer. Damn. Just stay there until I'm through."

And I was sobbing again, still ramming myself into the door. "NO, NO! STOP! F-FUCK YOU, STOP! PLEASE!" Again and again, I hurled myself into the door, but it wasn't budging.

And when I could hear Ryou crying, everything was a blur. My best friend. I'm so sorry. Please, just at least kill him fast, so he doesn't have to suffer. I'm the one who should suffer after what I did. Please.

My blood was everywhere, all over the floor, and I was slipping on it. It was pointless. I wasn't getting out, Ryou was probably already dead. And.

I gave up. It was going to happen, so there was no use trying to prevent something inevitable. Still sobbing, I didn't bother locking the door as I sat down on the floor, leaning my body against the tub to wait for what awaited me. I was so dizzy. Everything hurt.

Something was scraped across the floor, probably the dresser or whatever it was he'd moved in front of it, and the doorknob turned, Mariku appearing behind it, covered in blood. R-Ryou.

Licking his knife again, he grinned down at me. "Your little friend didn't scream as much as I'd preferred, but at least he was a good fuck. Perhaps you'll be a better one."

End