Nevermore
By
SMYGO4EVA
His heart was pounding.
He was sure he had seen the doorknob turn.
There, in the small corner facing the staircase, where he was now, he heard the telltale noises belonging to that very doorknob.
Turn back, turn back!
For some reason, he couldn't. His feet were planted onto that stair; he couldn't move. His eyes were locked onto that door, its knob shaking and rattling. He refused to believe it, but his eyes never left the cursed door.
What's going on?
What is it with that door?
Is someone….or something….here?
Ryou gulped silently, his body still as stone, his hand aching at his own grip of the railing, his heart pulsating in his chest. The knob shook, rattled and turned half-way, but resumed rattling once more.
The noise pierced his ears, and he covered them in a swift movement, his eyes shut tightly as he sat down on the stair, slowly rocking himself, the muffled noise still making way to his mind. Back and forth, back and forth, the noise branded itself into his brain, echoes warbling and marking itself into the confides of his head. Stop it, stop it, stop it! Just shut up! Just stop it already! He pleaded in his mind, anger intensifying his very being, his form quaking and shaking underneath his fury. He was angry about this mystery, just at the fact that whoever was behind that door was playing a trick with him and messing him. Yes, that was the only explanation.
He opened his eyes, stood up, and took a deep breath before he let one foot drop to the lower step, getting a closer look at that door. Maybe it was his imagination, or maybe this was just a crazy nightmare. Maybe it was a hallucination he was having with a hidden psychological meaning to a door turning its knob over and over again.
Either way, he stepped down and hesitated to let his foot touch the ground that marked the end of the staircase. The staircase had given him safety from the accursed door, but he had to learn what was going on with the contraption. His breath hitched as he cautiously stepped down from the stairs, walking slowly but surely, in the vicinity of the door.
It was a small door, quite uncommon nowadays, but he was curious and fearful at the same time. His palms moistened, his heart pulsating and his stomach was in knots. As he remembered from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", the character opened a similar door and only saw darkness. The boy prayed for only darkness if he opened it.
The noises of the doorknob nearly gave him a heart attack with its sudden movements, like the person on the other was in danger. The boy swallowed and he let one hand grasp the knob, which suddenly ceased its movements. His heart almost stopped.
What?
What just happened?
Was this a joke?
A sick trick?
Was this…something else?
He found himself turning the knob without feeling any opposition from the other side; his breath caught in his throat. He shut his eyes as he circled the knob without hesitation and he swung the door open, feeling a gust of cool air caress his face before he forced his eyes open.
As he thought.
Darkness and nothing more….
A cicada's cry pierced the silence, startling him out of the vision of the black sea in, and he peered inside, tentatively stepping into the doorway, shuddering almost.
Ryou….
The boy stopped shaking when he heard a soothing voice in the air. He looked around, but no one was there but him. The cool breeze returned again, gently caressing his cheek again, and soon all over the boy's form, its soft tendrils lifting him from the ground. Surprisingly, he didn't retort from this sudden gesture, he welcomed it somehow. He closed his eyes, letting the wind carry him from the dark ocean and laying him down to sleep.
He was afraid of the room, where the unknown was frightening to him, and the room was filled with mystery, but now he was enlightened. He wasn't afraid anymore.
In this sleep, he was afraid nevermore.
END
A/N: I wrote this piece in Creative Writing class as a journal entry, because I felt that it suited Ryou, and in honor of the holiday today. Happy Halloween!