It hadn't taken but a few minutes for the warm sunny day to simmer down into a cloudy mess. The low clouds now blotched the blue sky out in several places, a chilly wind picking up here and there.
Despite these turn of events, the city people continued lurking about the streets; too busy with their own lives to even bother with the weather's decision to take a turn for the worse. But that was how things went in this city. People rushed too and fro, not bothering to glance at the darker, chaotic places that they only pretended didn't exist.
Further down one of those crowded streets, if one took a small trip toward the old side of the city, they would come across an old brick path. The bricks, now cracked and molded over, served as the pathway to mystery.
At the end of the path rested two large, iron gates that looked to be kept in an almost pristine condition compared to the rest of the old city wing. They stood, looking almost like large guards that had only transformed into that form to keep out unwanted guests. This was true, to some degree.
As the wind picked up, the chains binding the inner metal poles together began shaking violently, only further adding to the loud creaking the gates had been making since the weather changed.
It was only after a brief silence appeared that the virgin sound of footsteps began winding closer and closer to the foreboding iron.
The boy, still in his fleece night wear, looked panicked and rushed, as if something had only spooked him in his current direction. His breathing was heavy, almost too unnatural to even consider the seventeen year old a human. His dull irises were both almost blocked out by his dilated pupils that were currently darting from side to side.
He came to an abrupt halt, head dashing wildly at his surroundings. He froze instantly as his icy blue eyes caught sight of something that wasn't there at all.
"D-don't...don't come any cl-closer!" he yelled, taking several steps back. "P-pl-please...l-leave me al-alone...!"
His pleading sobs continued before a gasp took away what almost seemed to be his last breath. Tears welled up in his eyes as he began scratching at his throat.
The estranged boy fell back several feet from his original standing place, his throat now red and held the print of large hands. He turned over quickly, crawling toward the gates that had chosen to continue their eerie song of despair.
"P-please...please...please..."
The boy chanted, coughing as his shaky hands grasped the bars of the gates with enough strength to drain the small amount of color from his already pale hands.
It was then, in that very moment when his hands made contact with the cold iron, did the lock begin giving off a clicking noise. He brought his fear-grasped face upright, hoping that this would be his chance to escape.
Quickly, he steadied himself on his feet before shaking the gates brutally.
"O-open damn it, open!" he yelled, shooting a glance over his shoulder. He stood dumb-founded, hands falling to his sides.
"Heh..." a strange smile spread across the boy's lips, "Hehehehehehehehe...!"
The creepy laughter that emitted from his lips was pure insanity, the boy throwing his head back as the fit continued. Once again he drew in what seemed to be his last breath, however, the laughter continued.
Several minutes passed, silence slowly sliding back upon the path. At the same time, the boy's body had become limp, now propped against the iron that still stood strong. Blood dripped down from the teenager's mouth as the clicking of the locks grew louder.
Click. Click. One minute. Click. Two.
The gate flung open, the boy's body hitting the ground with a thud.
Keiji's eyes flung open as he threw off the large blankets that covered him. He was sweating profusely, his heart beating at a shocking pace.
His green eyes darted about the darkened room, as if searching for some signs of what he had just saw in his mind.
"A...a dr-dream...?" He stuttered, trying to calm his breathing. Keiji's eyes slowly fell upon the digital alarm clock that rested beside his bed. The green numbers didn't soothe him as he hoped they would.
A neon green twelve o'clock flashed on and off, as if there had been a power surge or the clock had been unplugged recently. The shaken boy sighed, lowering his head back against the damp pillow. He had school tomorrow. There really was no time to be worrying over silly things like nightmares.
He turned, facing away from the clock now. The flashing numbers had become an annoyance.
Time passed slowly. Five minutes, at first. Then ten, then twenty, then half an hour. Keiji still sat with his eyes wide open, unable to fall back asleep. Was it the nightmare that had scared him this much? His thoughts continued wandering back to the weird pathway, to the frantic boy who looked oddly familiar.
There was something about that boy that struck him as odd. Sure Keiji knew nightmares and dreams could fall to the weird side at times, but something just didn't sit right with him this time. What was it that the boy had been running from? And why had he stopped instantly in his last few seconds of life?
Before too long, the first signs of morning began pouring through his curtained window. Keiji sighed, turning to face the small rays of light.
"Maybe...I'm just over-thinking things..." he said, sitting up slowly. "Either way...today's going to be awful."
He yawned, striding over to his closet. He wasn't sure how much sleep he had gotten, but he was damned sure that it wasn't more than three hours.
After a few minutes of procrastinating, Keiji was ready and combing through his messy black hair. He ignored the dark circles under his eyes, still unable to leave the thoughts that had bound him to the bed a bit earlier.