Abyssus Abyssum Invocat

Hell Calls Hell; One Misstep Leads To Another

By: Come Like Shadows

Prologue: Eric Boulder- Day 0 (Infection)

Eric Boulder perspired as he made is way past multiple check points. He was shoved roughly against a wall as the security guard checked him over. Boulders face burned as a couple smirked at him during one of the checks. What did these people expect? Would he suddenly acquire a gun between the five feet that separated the checks or something ridiculous like that? The conman made his way through a labyrinth of velvet ropes and hallways before stopping at a large door. It was dark and foreboding and towered above him in the gloom of the ill lit hallway. Boulder stared at the door with trepidation, looking around the empty hallway. He lifted the heavy knocker and let it fall back against the wood. He waited long after the echo faded into silence. The skin on the back of his neck prickled and his hair stood on end. Someone was watching him.

Finally: "Come in." The voice sounded off, maybe it was the thickness of the door or something else entirely.

The large door slid over on a motorized track that gave Boulder just enough room to slide through. He entered and the door slid closed just as quietly as it had opened. There was only one small row of LED lights fixed into the ceiling. Boulder had to squint to make out the far wall. He scuffled forward in the customary Japanese-sized slippers. Boulder hoped there were no security cameras, he didn't want to be seen with his heels hanging in the breeze. Boulder looked with his peripheral vision for any voyeurs but could see none. He started to sweat. If his informant had lied to him...

Boulder pulled his silk handkerchief out of his suit pocket and dabbed his brow and neck. He made to sit cross legged on the padded cushion provided but changed his mind mid-motion. Boulder bent at the knees and kneeled down on the mat, back straight. Boulder couldn't see how they did it. He had only been there for a few days and already he could feel the arthritis gnawing at his knees.

A hum of static attracted his attention. A large plasma TV lit up, throwing Boulders natural pale into a sickly pallor. A voice began to play, modulated with static and made up of several different voices. Both male and female. "Boulder-san." Written in Gothic font was the word: KIRA.

Boulder pulled at his collar restlessly. The back of his neck was sticky with sweat.

"What are your desired sins?"

Boulders throat double clutched in shock. Did it really just say that? Boulder calmed and tilted his face down to his his smirk. Titanism thy name is KIRA. He felt more comfortable dealing with someone who thought they were All That And More like some of his clients. "I need you to take care of someone for me. A girl."

The was no polite response.

He snapped open his valise and pulled out a sheaf of papers. They had everything on the girl. Name, Age, where she lived, medical records, it was all there. "She's the fiancée of an American FBI Agent. She used to be one herself but she quit soon after becoming engaged. She's the one that was in charge of my case in the States. I need to make an example of her. Show everyone what I'll do to them if they challenge me." Boulder couldn't believe that he had been scared before. Sure it had a creepy atmosphere but once you got into it!

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

Boulder was distracted. There was a flurry of motion he caught out of the corner of his eye. It was dark, but there was a different between Shadow Dark and someones night camouflage. His hand strayed to his watch where there was hidden a fast acting poison. Disguised as the pin it wouldn't be noticed until it was too late.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" The Voice sounded impatient. "Do you want me to kill Naomi Misora?"

Boulder stared at the word KIRA until he thought it would be burned into his retinas and every time he closed his eyes it would be there, accusing. His mind raced. How did KIRA know? He hadn't mentioned her name! Was there a camera that had seen the name on his papers when he set them down? He looked at the papers that shifted sluggishly in the wind generated by the air vents. They were face down. A background check then.

But something was nagging him in the back of his brain. What was it? The name. The name-- KIRA said it Naomi Misora. Not the traditional Japanese last name first. KIRA was Japanese.

"IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT!"

"YES!- That's it!" Boulder rose from his mat. "You're not KIRA!"

"Finally." Previously unknown doors slid open flooding the room with light.

Boulder blinked and violently shoved up his sleeve, searching for the pin. He was tackled to the floor and bounced his head on the floor. Boulder managed to free an elbow and jabbed one of his attackers in the face. His arms were pulled above his head and one sleeve was ripped open. He kicked his legs and heard an "Oof!" when it connected. There was a prick of a syringe on his bicep and he could feel a cold liquid enter his veins. He began to grow sleepy. It was probably some Chinese cocktail.

Damn Ninjas.

Chapter 1: Eric Boulder- Day 1 (Spreading The Disease)

Boulder woke to an extreme heat enveloping his body. He pushed back the sheets of his hotel bed-- funny how he couldn't remember coming back-- and swung his legs off the bed. He rubbed his arm, it was sore and pulsed steadily. Boulder entered the master bedroom. He stood in front of the mirror and pushed up the sleeve of his button down. He made mental note to change his clothes before he left. There was a red bump on his right bicep.

He opened the medicine cabinet and pawed through the contents of it, mindless of what fell to the ground. Boulder found a tube of Neosporin and attempted to open it, growling at his failure to do so. His hands became slick with sweat and he could feel a headache began to thunder behind his eyes. He held the tube in one hand and slammed it against the mirror repeatedly. It broke along the seam and thick white goo flowed out and down the mirror.

It distorted his face. His brows were two deep crevices in the hazardous terrain of his forehead. His frown was a narrow sea strait that no sailor would dare go. Boulders frown deepened. What was he doing? Explaining things lie he was in some Wal-Mart brand harlequin novel.

He wiped some of the goo off the mirror with his finger and applied it to the bump. Boulder left the rest for the maid service to take care of. Adrenaline surged through his system and it numbed him.

Boulder decided that changing was not worth any further annoyance and put his jacket back on. If he held his arm close to his body no one would notice the rip. He found his tie on the floor and shoved that into his pocket and pulled his valise off the desk. He had the impression that he was forgetting something. Something Important. Boulder shrugged the feeling off and shifted through the valise for the keys to his rental car. If he hurried he could probably be at Tokyo International by early afternoon.

Boulder walked down the hallway at a quick pace. He had no luggage. He pressed the call button for the elevator anxiously. The doors slid open, the only other occupant of the elevator was a blond teeny-bopper. She gave him a wink and he could feel his annoyance rise. She sidled closer.

"You're American right? Do you like Japan? Misa is Japanese, Duh, but-"

As Teeny-Bopper continued to yammer on the pain behind his eyes began to grow. It spread into his forehead and pooled there like gasoline. Boulder clenched his fists to his sides and laid his head against the cool metal of the elevator walls. Stay calm. Don't get angry. He didn't have his Biretta on him and the Yakuza wouldn't help him if he got into trouble.

"American-san? Are you okay?" She touched his shoulder lightly.

Without turning away from the wall Boulder grabbed her arm with his left and twisted it. He took his right fist and slammed it into her exposed elbow. There was a sickening pop as Teeny-Boppers forearm jumped out of socket. He released her arm and pushed her back.

Teeny-Boppers eyes grew wide and Boulder watched as he pupils turned into small pinpricks. She gasped and made small noises in the back of her throat.

Boulder took note of the floor number and looked for a security camera.

"R- Rem."

He couldn't see one but that didn't mean it wasn't there.

"Rem. Help me." She stared sightlessly at Boulder, more focused with her pain than her actual pain-giver.

Boulder pressed the emergency stop button.

She had a brief but strong moment of lucidity. "Kill him Rem! Do it! KILL HIM!"

(PAUSE)

Boulder used the maintenance door on the roof of the elevator to escape. They would call the elevator to the lobby with the police in tow. If they had any semblance of a working camera system they probably already knew what he did. He climbed up to the next set of steel doors, and with his feet locked around the ladder, forced them open. The muscles in his legs burned and there was a stinging pain in his right hand. He pulled him self out of the elevator shaft and made a quick exit to the stairs. A brief survey found them empty. There were multiple cuts across his knuckles, each were red and raw. He pulled his tie out of his pocket and looped it around his hand, tying it with his teeth.

Boulder was on the second floor. He ran down the two sets of stairs quickly. There was an emergency exit directly across from him. He grinned and exited out onto the street, amid the blare of police sirens and general chaos of Tokyo.