Edit : Cleaning up any error that I come across. Also change the quote.
2nd Night
Qin in D. Gray-Land
"It's no use going back to yesterday
because I was a different person back then."
-Lewis Caroll, Alice in Wonderland
Holy sweet mackerel!
Screaming gibberish curses mixed in with the holiness of a fish in my mind, I stared, jaw slacked and bug- eyed at the kid standing before of me. He looked creepily similar to Alma Karma from D . Gray-Man, from the bangs framing his face to the dull scar running across the bridge of his nose down right to the twisty, twisty thing on his chest. But what was even more terrifying was what laid behind him: a room laden with unforgiving fog and hundreds of glowing holes just like the one I had crawled out of.
I ran my hand down my face, feeling a headache already hammering at the back of my head.
How much did I drink?
Wasn't it just a couple of cans? And I'm already hallucinating? Maybe I'm dreaming? If I am, this is one hell of a vivid dream. Almost tentatively, I reached down and pinched myself. Ow! For a moment there it almost hurt. Without reserve, I gave myself a tight slap. Ouch! My eyes flew wide at the stinging sensation.
Holy hell, this isn't a dream.
Hands touched my shoulders, it was the Alma Karma look alike. His lips were moving, but I too far freaking out that I couldn't even begin to understand what the hell he was trying to say. It was as if all oxygen left the room leaving me drowning in my thoughts. Terror and fear, rose into my throat even as I gulped it down.
And before I even have a chance to calm myself, the door cracked open and groups of people wearing white coats poured in, invading my space like tall walls closing in. Everyone was talking at once. There was no silence. No room to think.
I tried to move, to get away. I could barely push myself, my limbs prickled with a thousands needles and weighed down by tonnes. And with every inched, I recoiled, they came closer. Leave me alone. A hand seized my wrist and I reached the breaking point…
...And screamed.
I didn't realise it then. But it was the moment that the world that I used to escape reality became the very cage that shackled me to this never-ending nightmare. And no matter what I did, what I tried...I couldn't snap awake.
I glared at the mirror -the closest thing to a window in this room- feeling their eyes on me from the other side like annoying needles prickling the back of my neck. If I could, I would've already turned away and hide myself into the pillows and the folds of the blankets but moving was almost an impossible task when I'm strapped down to the bed.
Huffing, I flopped back down and gaze up at the white, unchaging ceiling. I couldn't help but to wonder how long I had been here? Hours, days or maybe even weeks? In this place, it's almost impossible to tell...but it feels like an eternity.
And bit by bit, the walls of the room was closing in on me. I screwed my eyes shut. I don't know how much of this I can take.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
My eyes snapped open at the sound of approaching footsteps.
Someone's...coming. And it sounds like more than one person. The question was...who's coming? Renee? I doubt she wants to come in again after the way I pushed over the bowl of medicine. The older Epstein? I hope not. I had enough of his long and useless dronings on exorcists and their 'responsibilities' that I'm tempted to throw a spoon at him. Or…
"I'm sure, Doctor Edgar. I can't wait to see her again!"
All my muscles tensed at once. No...No way…
"Alma…"
"Please, please, please, Doctor Edgar. I won't pick a fight with her. I promise I'll be good. Cross my heart and hope to die. Stick a needle in my eye."
No. No. No. Go away.
"Alright."
There was the jiggling of keys and then the lock released with a click, the door swinging open in an agonizingly slow fashion. My heart leapt to my throat as their shadows came into view. I struggled against my binds as if I could use these last few seconds to disappear.
I didn't want to see anyone...least of all him.
They stepped in, light flooding onto their features as the door closed behind them with finality. It's over for me, there's no escaping now. I really hate my rotten luck.
"Hello," He rushed forward and I inched away as much as I could, "Do you remember me?" I jutted my chin and looked away.
"I guess not," The bed sunk and tilted me towards him, "I guess I have to introduce myself again. My name's Alma...or at least, that's what everyone calls me."
"And I already know you," The kid pointed his finger at me, smile widening, "Your name's Qin. It's a pretty name."
It took every bit of my willpower not to snap forward and bite down on his finger with all my might or even scream and shout at him that that wasn't my name. I had a name. A name that I used all my life. A name...that I somehow can no longer remember…
I bit down on my tongue, eyes flickering towards Edgar and the two-way mirror, annoyance and fear flaring at the same time. I know, that if I had slipped up...there's only one thing that they would do to me.
"You're really quiet," That damn kid tilted his head almost innocently, "Maybe you're scared? You don't have to be so scared. I won't bite."
But I might.
"And besides, it's safe here."
Like hell it is! This nightmare of a world is filled to the brim with body snatching Akumas, eccentric Noahs that looked ready to rip your heart out at any second and Exorcists that wields weapons of mass destruction, and not to mention this hell hole of a place! So how the hell is this world considered safe? One minute you'll be skipping around with your buddy and the next, you're friend is an Akuma and you're dead. Game over.
Not to mention, my soon to be executioner is sitting here casually on the bed and holding my hand. ...I'm starting to think that I've pissed off the Universe at some point.
"Still, it's alright to feel a little scared. I think I was too when I first woke up," A little scared? I was beyond terrified! "Everything seem so strange but I gotten used to it. You will too. I think you might even like it."
Please, tell me you're kidding?
"You don't believe me?" The kid puffed his cheeks in indignation, "There's so many interesting stuff in this place, you know. I can prove it!"
"There's great food to eat, so many options that you won't be able to make up your mind and..." One by one, he counted off his fingers, "Oh, yummy mayonnaise! You can never get enough of mayonnaise! And there's Edgar and the others...They're are pretty nice too. They always bring me books, talk to me and sometimes even give me candy. Oh, oh, and there's...YU!"
Me? Oh wait, maybe he meant Yu? As in Kanda Yu? That samurai-esque exorcist with a constant stick shoved up his butt? That guy?
Alma yapped on excitedly, "Well, you haven't met him yet. Yu woken up before you. But he's like us. Isn't it great? To know that you're aren't alone? You know, he's pretty nice and quiet when he first woke up and then all of a sudden, he became so mean!"
"I don't know what happened, but he kept growling and snarling whenever I try to talk to him. And he always have that sour and grumpy look on his face wherever he went. And worst of all he kept calling me bad names! I don't know what the hell they mean and Edgar and the others don't even want to tell me but the way he said it was mean!"
"And all I wanted to do," Pouting, he folded his arms like the petulant child that he was, "...is to be his friend!"
"Ah!" His eyes flew wide, "And don't you dare be like him, Qin! One Yu is hard enough to deal with." His expression crumbled, "I don't know what I will do if you started being mean to me too."
"But just thinking about his words makes me just want to..." Edgar tensed at the sudden influx of killer aura, "Punch him!"
"But...ugh!" Almost as quickly, he retracted his fist and tousled his already messy hair, "I don't want Yu to hate me!"
And almost as fast as he became angry, the kid was dry sobbing. Talk about fast swinging hormones.
"What should I do? What should I do, Qin?" Alma flung his arms about like noodles having seizures, "Tell me, what should I do? Ack!"
"Alma!" Edgar yelled.
And down and down he went. Welp, there goes Humpty Dumpty! "Pfft!"
The air in the room froze with silence, and I realised what a grave mistake I had commited. Did...Did I just laugh? The kid, peeked up from the edge of the bed, surprise sparking in his eyes. And then, came the flood of joy.
"You laughed!" His eyes sparkled with crazy intensity as he scrambled up the sheets, coming closer that ever, "You finally laughed!"
What a hole I had dug for myself. Quickly plastering a poker face, I turned away but almost as quickly as I did that, he grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
"Don't pretend it never happened! I heard it! Doctor Edgar heard it! You laughed!"
Please, kid, stop shaking the life out of me.
"Ugh, you're being difficult," His shoulders slumped and in the next second, he was renergized, throwing up his arms, "But I'm happy! Since you laugh, does that mean we're friends? We're friends, right? Doctor Edgar?"
He didn't even let poor Edgar answer.
"Yes! I finally have a friend!" He was too far gone for anyone to pull back now, "I can't wait for you to meet everyone! I can't even wait to show you around! Can I? Can I? Doctor Edgar, please?"
I could only sigh.
.
.
.
.
.
If someone told me that I would one day wake up and find myself in the world of D . Gray-Man, I would've laughed, socked them in the face and burry them in a tub of pizzas before shipping them off to the mad house.
Now, I'm gonna owe them a pizza.