Spy: Yes, I've jumped on the band wagon. I'm not sure when I can update anything else. My writer's block has been so terrible, I had to do something about it, so I decided to take the 100 one-shot challenge. I already have three done. So. I hope you guys like it. Please Read and Review!
17. Blood
"The Zone"
The Zone only has need for the dead...
ダニー
The color of the portal matched the glow in his eyes. He had never noticed it before. Why all of a sudden? He was simply returning after a long patrol, a full thermos clutched between his fingers. His body was scarred, blood trickling from multiple wounds. He knew he would have to get help soon, but he had wanted to get rid of his stubborn catch before it got away from him.
But why, after all his years of ghost fighting, did The Zone suddenly strike him as beautiful?
Danny could feel the thermos fall from his gloved hands and heard it hit the floor with a clatter. He chose to ignore it, concentrating instead on the open portal before him.
The green mass continued to swirl, working its way into intricate shapes and patterns. Danny couldn't help but find it mesmerizing. The green reflected in his inhuman eyes, dancing, moving; flickering in and out of existence. A smile cracked over the boy's lips, and he found himself reaching a hand up to touch the delicate surface of The Zone. It rippled beneath his fingers, bouncing and sending waves splashing back to caress his hand. The green licked at his arm, pulling gently at the fabric of his Hazmat suit. Danny found himself laughing, his head swamped with useless thoughts. He forgot entirely about the large hole in his stomach as it spilled both lumpy ectoplasm and thick red blood. Danny held his other hand out, his laughter growing as the green leapt to claim it as well. A tendril wrapped around one of his boots, pulling his leg forward. The boy heard a sick squelch as the sole of his shoe was pulled from the puddle of his fresh blood.
To him, it felt as if warm arms were encircling him, pulling him tighter into their eternal embrace. He could hear a voice whispering to him, telling him all the rules of The Zone. He knew he would obey them. He would obey them always.
"Are you ready?" The voice asked, another tendril wrapping gently around his neck, softly caressing the boy's cheek. Danny could feel it tightening, restricting his airway. His laughter suddenly stopped, panic seizing his trapped form.
"Wha?" He choked, trying to pull against the green mass that held him. It simply tightened its hold, putting more pressure on his chest and neck.
"Sleep Halfa. The Zone has you now…"
"J-Jazz!" The boy cried as The Zone pulsed forward, engulfing even more of his body. What was happening? Why…all of a sudden? Why was The Zone taking him? His eyes darted around the room, searching desperately for an answer. He had to know what was happening…he had never expected. Why?
Then…he saw it…
The answer was found in his human body. It was lying, crumpled in a pool of its own blood. Its blue eyes were still open, staring blankly out at the ghost zone, the green shining on their dead surfaces. For the first time, Danny realized how badly he had been injured in that attack…his human body was sliced almost in half. The boy could see his internal organs poking through the stained and torn fabric of his t-shirt.
"The Zone only has need for the dead." The voice whispered.
"Am I…dead?" The boy said as loudly as he could.
There was a long, agonizing pause as the zone continued to pull him closer, draining away the dregs of his life.
"Yes." It finally spoke. "You are dead Halfa."
Then, with one last lurch, Danny could feel it swallow him whole, pushing him through the abyss of green. He was falling, everything pulling away from him, getting further from his reach. Purple blurs streaked by, marking the lairs of The Zone's other inhabitants. Danny watched them as they went by, feeling a strange calm begin to bloom from his fear.
"One of them is mine." He told himself as he fell through the never-ending expanse of green. "Because…I'm dead."
He took a deep breath, feeling panic as The Zone's ectoplasm poured into his lungs, filling him with its essence. He opened his vibrant green eyes wide, suddenly realizing that he would never breathe again…
The Zone had him.
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