Darkness.
Pain.
Agony.
Loss.
The emotions flooded through his head as he ran. Running from the vile images that filled his head. They were everywhere, coming in spurts and worse each time. Visions of death flashed before his eyes every other moment, it was horrible to watch, and closing his eyes did not help a couldn't blink, he couldn't widen his eyes, he couldn't close them. There was truly no escape from them. With that thought, he froze for a moment, stalling him enough that he managed to fall over a rock he would have otherwise missed. The moment he fell, he felt the images begin to creep towards him, but he couldn't run. He couldn't move. He was paralyzed with fear, something that he never expected to be.
With silent tears, he prayed for the visions to go away and to his surprise, his prayers were answered. Just as he thought the darkness would overwhelm him, he started to feel it ebb away. Rather quickly, oddly enough.
"Vanitas!" A voice called from close by. It wasn't one he could recognize just from memory, though it was vaguely familiar. "Van, are you alright?" He felt a cold hand press against his forehead, and he subconsciously moved his head into it, sighing in relief from the pounding in his head.
"I'm fine." The words were weak, contradicting his statement. He heard the voice go 'tsk' and he felt his arm go around his shoulders.
"You're not, I can see it. C'mon. We'll go back to my place to get you all sorted out." The voice tried with all it's might to life him from the ground, and with a little help from Vanitas himself, he managed to get him standing and moving. Within moments he felt the cold air of air conditioning hit his heated flesh. The voice lead him to the living room, laying him down on the couch with promises of coming right back. Van just nodded and tried to relax.
It wasn't as difficult he expected, the constant visions that had plagued him mind seemed to disappear. It confused him, there was nothing he could do that would make the thoughts go away. But here he was, with the visions only at the far back of his mind.
"Here you go." The boy set down a pot of tea on the table, pouring a cup for both Van and himself. "You're going to have to sit up to drink it. It's supposed to relieve headaches." Van nodded, and complied, taking a quick sip of the tea and relishing in it's warmth.
"Thank you." He choked out, unused to talking. The boy seemed to jump for a moment, surprised to hear him talk. "But, how did you know...my name?" He managed out. To this, the boys head fell, staring down into his teacup.
"I'm just someone you used to know. I happened to recognize you, and chose to help someone in need." The boy's words were rushed, as if he wanted to get through it as fast as possible. There was a reason he had, and Vanitas had gotten so attuned to negative emotions, he knew exactly what he was feeling.
Pain.
Sorrow.
Loss.
Regret.
The idea of such a sweet boy feeling these things made his heart ache. But there was something he was hiding. "Oh, I see... How did I know you then?" Suddenly he felt like something was missing, a memory or something of the like. Now that he looked at it, he felt empty, as if he was missing more than just one memory. Maybe he hadn't noticed before because he was too busy fighting off the visions.
"Just an old boyfriend, someone forgotten by time." Lies. That was lie, and Van could tell. But he wasn't about to annoy his host by telling him he knew he was lying.
"Alright." He wasn't sure what else to say, instead settling with taking another sip of his tea. His mind was relaxed, something it hadn't been in a while. He was enjoying sitting in silence with his tea and the company of this boy. "May I ask your name?"
"Sure, it's Ventus." He gave the name so simply, but the second he said it, another image came. A blond boy, much alike to Ventus, hung from the rafters. Cold dead eyes locked on Van. His eyes widened and he screamed, throwing his cup at the body, hoping it would get rid of it. Thankfully it did and the image dissipated leaving behind only the loud crash as the cup hit the wall. With heavy breaths, he curled into a ball, trying to get rid of the image that refused to leave.
"This is worse than I remember..." He barely heard Ventus' voice over the pounding in his ears. A hand was placed to his forehead, driving away the image once again. If he hadn't been thinking it before, he was thinking it now. Ventus had something to do with keeping away the illusions, and he knew it. Why had Vanitas left if he had someone that could drive away the thoughts?
Maybe he really had lost his memory.
Vanitas took a deep breath, and sat back up. "I'm fine now, thanks." His words rang true this time. He was feeling much better. Ventus still didn't seem to believe him, made obvious by the worried look on his face.
"I'm going to get you a blanket or something so you can sleep, you need rest." He stood up, and left the room. And the second he did, Van could feel the darkness coming back. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to subdue the illusions before Ventus came back. Not quickly enough, Ventus did return with a warm blanket that was soon draped over Vanitas' shoulders. "There you go, now, go to sleep or something. Just rest." He started to walk away and Vanitas already began to feel the darkness ebb back. Out of instinct, he reached forward and grabbed Ventus' wrist, pulling him down onto the couch.
"Please don't leave..." Vanitas whispered meekly, more timid then he would ever like to be heard. Ventus sighed, but pulled the blanket over both of them, laying down soon after. Vanitas smiled and followed suit. He pulled Ventus close, holding him tightly and relishing in the relief his touch brought.
"You're more touchy than last time..." Ventus' voice was quiet, and Vanitas wasn't even sure he had heard him right since he was already falling to sleep. "I like this Van. I just hope this won't end like last time..." The words faded together as he drifted off to sleep for the first time in a long time...
He awoke with quick breaths, body covered in a sheen of sweat. A vision had come once again in his sleep, telling him that Ventus wasn't with him anymore. He felt around the couch to be sure, and sure enough, Ven was missing. He didn't like him being gone. He didn't like the feeling of ebbing darkness whenever Ventus wasn't around. Just one night had changed him so much, he wondered if he would be able to live without Ventus, how many other people could get rid of his darkness like this?
He heard Ventus walk back into the room, and the second he did hear it he jumped from the couch and grabbed onto Ventus' arm, sighing in relief. Ven looked at him, a little scared. "Vanitas, are you alright." Ven asked nervously.
"Yeah, you just bring me so much relief whenever we touch... I couldn't resist. I need it." It sounded silly and stupid when he said it out loud, but it was the truth. He needed his touch. Not in a sexual way mind you, more like something to anchor him to reality. But with this confession, Ventus looked even more scared.
"You can't be like this...it doesn't end well... This ending has happened before... I can't let you... You have to be safe..." Ven's words were quick and under his breath, not meant to be heard but heard regardless. He began to struggle against Vanitas' hold, seemingly involuntarily. Vanitas meant to hold tighter, but a visions racked his brain and made his grasp loosen enough for Ven to escape. He wasn't supposed to see visions when he was touching Ventus, he was his relief. What was happening?
Ven had run off, to god knows where in this huge house, and Vanitas was growing more scared by the minute. The visions were coming back, faster and faster until he was close to the position he had been last night when Ventus had found him. He fell to his knees, eyes pierced with tears, head pounding and his hands trying to hold his cranium together.
"Vanitas, look at me." With a sudden strength and relief, Vanitas looked up at Ventus. But it wasn't Ventus he was looking at. He was staring up at the barrel of a gun. His eyes widened in fear, and he began to push away from Ventus. "Don't be afraid Vanitas. You won't really die from this. All that will happen is the timeline will reset. You'll be back to running through the forest in fear. You'll forget about me. You'll forget about everything once again." He cocked the gun, and aimed it at Vanitas' heart. "I'm sorry Van, but the ending to this story isn't a happy one. Maybe next time we'll end all of this, but for now, this is how it must end."
And he shot.
The bullet pierced through Vanitas' chest and blood immediately started pouring from the wound. His body was growing colder by the second, the more blood that was lost.
"I'm sorry Vanitas. See you in the next life." Vanitas' eyes widened as Ventus held the gun to his own head. With the last of his strength he managed to scream "NO!" as Ventus pulled the trigger and fell to the ground.
It was just a moment before all the visions returned in his last fleeting moments of life.
Sorrow.
Pain.
Loss.
Agony.
Regret.
Darkness.
They came closer and closer, nearly absorbing him.
But there wasn't anything to keep him tied to reality.
And he fell back into the darkness.
Ready to start the tale all over again.