Coulrophobia

Chapter 1

The floor creaked when I sat up, and dust overwhelmed my senses.

The smell that assaulted my nostrils reminded me of an old, musty cellar. It smelled sort of like old soap and rotting wood, and my hands instantly flew up to cover my nose and mouth. It wasn't a horrible smell, but it certainly wasn't vanilla and lavender- the smell that I usually awoke to every morning. The strange smell instantly told me that I was not in my room- or anywhere I knew for that matter.

My eyes took a good minute to adjust to the surrounding darkness as I stood.

Dust once again swirled in the air- which told me that, wherever I was, it didn't see too many visitors.

I wandered blindly, flailing one arm around to find something to lean on. My legs felt strangely numb, like I had been sleeping on them for a long time.

My fingers brushed against something cold and metal. A clanging sound greeted my ears, and I felt my blood run cold: chains. That was the sound of a lot of chains bumping up against each other. By then I could see better, and saw that I was gripping a chain of… chains that were lined with…pieces of paper? I frowned and tore a piece off. Where have I seen this before…?

I stuffed the piece in my pocket and shook my head. First things first. I had to get out of the dusty place.

Pillars came into view, so I squinted my eyes to see better. The pillars were connected by the chains, and the rotten smell only got worse the more I walked forward. It got so bad that my eyes began to water, but I pressed forward- which in hind sight was not my brightest idea ever. What if I was in serial killer's basement and stumbled across a dead body? But alas, I really didn't really have my head on straight at the time- the smell coupled with the strange numbness didn't help my train of thought one bit.

And then I saw it. And instantly recognized it.

Suspended above the floor by several strings of chains, was a giant tan bag. It was wrinkled near the top, and the material resembled pale leather. My heart skipped a beat as I stood, frozen on the spot in front of the thing. My blood rain cold as ice and I felt my knees wobble.

I was staring at something that didn't exist. Actually, correction: shouldn't exist. It was suppose to be fictional- thought of by some manga artist and most certainly not real. I shut my eyes and counted to ten- no, twenty- and opened them again, only for it to still be there. The three elongated eyes on the bag stared at me.

I shook my head and tried to think straight. Alright, I thought, let's pretend that this is real. That I was staring at the fleshy prison of Asura- a Kishin. What should I do? Run like hell seemed like a good option, but I found it surprisingly hard to move.

"Lost…are we…?"

A smooth, silky voice washed over me. Holy- oh shit. Crap, crap, crap…

I looked all around, trying to find out just where the hell he was. If I was where I thought I was, which was a totally insane and impossible notion to begin with, then this was nothing more than a hallucination. I just needed walk away and get out. Nothing to worry about.

I nearly kicked myself. I had every reason to worry.

Then suddenly, something snaked around my waist and I yelped, twisting around to break free. Bandages, I reasoned, had wrapped themselves tightly around my middle. And in one yank, I was lifted off the ground by a good few yards. Any scream I may have considered uttering died in my throat as I swallowed and gagged on the stale air. The bandages were so tight they it hard to even breathe.

"L-Let…go!" I managed. "This is a hallucination. Hallucination, hallucination, hallucination…"

I concentrated hard on that word and repeated it over and over- and then pop! I was back on the ground again, in front of the bag. I dropped to my knees and panted, adrenalin pounding in my ears.

"Damn…" I coughed. This was real. Either that or…no, this was definitely real. I felt dizzy and shut my eyes, lying back down on the hard floor. I felt exhausted.

A silky cackling echoed in my ears as I drifted off- but I hardly cared. This was all too much all at once…

0000

Spirit really, really didn't want to be in his current situation. It was missions like these that really made him wish he never became a Death Scythe. Not only was he very near turning his back and running, but he could feel the madness around him- in the air and through the walls. Not that he could run away. Not with Sid and his Weapon partner right next to him and with the seriousness of the situation.

Only an hour pervious, Lord Death sensed and unusual presence in the underground of Death City- right inside the deepest level- where the first Kishin, Asura, was imprisoned. He was certain that the Kishin was still trapped and not been disturbed, but the situation needed to be dealt with- mainly, who or what had managed to bypass all their security measures or even knew the Kishin was there to begin with.

"This wavelength is so intense…" Spirit gulped.

"I suppose expecting anything else from the Kishin would be giving the guy too little credit." Sid agreed, taking a long look at the ruins around them as they walked. "It looks like this place hasn't been touched in ages."

"All the more reason to be worried about what's down here now. Nothing looks disturbed."

"Lord Death said the presence is in the Kishin's chamber- which is, well, this must be it."

The large wooden doors in front of the trio were dusty and looked very old, but sturdy. It took all three people, Sid, Spirit and Nygus to push them open even a crack.

"Be ready- the madness wavelength will be even more intense once we're inside." Nygus warned before returning to Weapon form.

"Well, let's get this over with." Spirit ventured in first, sweat forming on his brow. The room was very large and dark, and the madness was stronger than ever. Sid followed suit, keeping Nygus drawn and ready.

Wind from outside made the many chains rattle and clank together, the paper seals attached to them swaying. The floor creaked as they ventured forward- further and further toward the proverbial boogeyman's prison.

"Spirit, over here!"

The Death Scythe followed Sid's voice, and found him leaning over what looked like-

"Is that…?"

A kid. Just a kid. More specifically, a girl- like Maka, Spirit thought. His heart wanted to drop into his stomach at the sight of her drastically pale skin and painfully slow breathing- but he stopped himself. This had to be the intruder- he couldn't let himself he fooled by appearances. Sid looked over at Spirit and nodded before scooping the girl up, who was tall and lanky and hung limply in his grasp. Her hair was brown and long, and Spirit could make out freckles in the dark.

"I can't feel any other presence in here but hers." Sid said. "Let's head out. I don't want to spend one more second in here than I have to."

"How do you think she got here?" Nygus asked. "She's out cold…"

"We'll have to ask when she wakes up." Sid replied. "We'll take her to Shibusen's infirmary. After she's checked out, we'll have to put her in a cell."

Spirit blinked. He understood why they would need to keep an eye on her, but a cell? She didn't look all too dangerous- but then again, appearances can be tricky. He supposed she had somehow managed to break into the secure prison in all of this continent- if not world. The Death Scythe sighed, but kept his opinion to himself. Spirit tossed the girl another glance as they left the chamber, and shook his head. Things were definitely going to be interesting the next few days, that was for sure.

0000

(A/N): So…what do you guys think? Like it so far? Anything you'd like to specifically see happen in this fic? I have a vague idea of where I'm going with this thing, and yes, I do have an explanation for how she ended up in the Kishin's chamber and in the SE universe in general, but still. Feedback is greatly appreciated, as always. ALSO, I'm thinking about romance in this story- what character would you like to see, if any, be paired with our unnamed narrator? I completely understand if you don't want to put a suggestion in just now, seeing as we've had very little insight to her exact character yet, heheh.

FYI, this story will be following the manga canon, which is similar to the anime up until the Castle Invasion Arc time. Then things get really different. So if you haven't read the manga, you're safe until then-ish.