It had been a week. A week since I last saw him. I just couldn't figure it out. He was so confusing. First he watches me for a week, then when I confront him, he disappears for another week. Though I couldn't help wondering if maybe he was still watching me. From what he said, it sounded like he'd been watching me before then. Though I had never seen him around, he could have been watching me before, and he could have still been watching me. If that was all correct, it would make sense as to how he knew my name.
But figuring that out didn't help me feel any better. If anything, I was just freaking out even more. I couldn't handle a stalker on top of everything else I was dealing with.
I felt like a walking panic attack, waiting to happen. And if I had a break down at work… Well, I didn't really know what I would do if that happened, but I knew things wouldn't end well…
Sora waved to Vanitas as he hurried into Walmart, walking quickly so he wouldn't be late. Just as he was about to walk through the doors into the backroom, he saw something silver over by the milk. He stopped suddenly and back tracked slightly, but as he looked around the dairy, the man was no where to be seen.
"I must be seeing things." He muttered to himself as he started walking once more. He pushed open the doors then stood by the lockers as he waited to clock in. It wasn't long before Leon appeared through the doors as well and joined Sora in his wait.
Sora stood once more in apparel, going through a cart for overstock. He seriously knew this area too well.
He was tossing item after item into the slowly filling cart when something moving caught his eye. Ever the curious one, he glanced up to see what it was, only to do a double take as he saw a flash of silver. His eyes widened in horror and his breath caught in his throat as his eyes settled on the tall, slim figure of the man. His anxiety sky rocketed at the sight of him, his eyes locking onto Sora.
The brunet dropped the pack of underwear in his hands and hurried over to pets, where his brother was hard at work.
"Sora? Are you alright?" Leon asked as he saw Sora's fearful expression. Sora shook his head and quickly explained the situation to his brother, who slowly looked more and more angered by the information. He didn't question why Sora hadn't told him sooner though, thankfully, and quickly marched over towards the dressing room with Sora close behind. Though when they got there, the man was no where to be seen.
"I swear to god, he was right there." Sora said, pointing to the spot where the silveret stood when Sora had spotted him.
"I believe you. But he's gone now, so we should get back to work. Just let me know if you see him again, and when Vanitas comes to pick you up, I'll walk you out of the store." Leon said. Sora nodded sadly in agreement. He didn't like to think this guy was still wandering about the store, mostly in his department, but he didn't have much of a choice at the moment, he had to keep working.
That morning, Sora lay awake in bed, his brows drawn together as he stared pensively at the snowy white feather between his fingers.
The man hadn't come back till early that morning as Sora was leaving. He was standing against the wall outside as he had before, but Sora tried to ignore him as he hurried over to Vanitas' roaring black truck with Leon. Swinging open the door, he swiftly pulled himself into the heated cab as Leon told Vanitas to take care of him, brushing off the snow from his shoulders and head that had fallen onto him. He quickly spun around in his seat to watch the man as Leon headed back inside to finish his work and Vanitas started to slowly drive away, his tired brain not processing Sora's nonsense, nor the fact that he'd not buckled himself.
Slowly, the man started to become smaller with the distance that was slowly, yet all too quickly gaining between them.
Suddenly though, the man vanished before his now wide eyes, something white fluttering towards the ground in his place. Sora's eyes widened and he back handed his brother's shoulder, making Vanitas jump and look over irritatedly as Sora practically screamed at him to pull over.
Unthinkingly, Vanitas had slammed on the breaks, making the truck jerk sharply and causing Sora to fall out of his seat. He cringed as he hit the dashboard, but quickly recovered as he got up and flung himself out of the truck. Vanitas called after him as he sprinted through the snow and back to the entrance of the store, slowing as he came to the spot where the mysterious man once stood. He was breathing heavily as he looked around for him, but of course he found nothing.
With a resigned sigh, he cast his gaze downward, now seeing a snowy white feather sticking up, out of the powdery substance. He bent down slowly, his bones and muscles screaming in protest, then picked up the feather, disregarding the diseases the feather could be carrying.
Then, the next thing he knew, he was being cursed at and commanded by Vanitas, the boy having pulled his truck back around to the entrance at Sora's sudden odd behavior.
Slowly he'd gotten back in, being sure to buckle himself in this time as Vanitas went on a tangent about Sora's idiocy. Though he hardly listened as he was mesmerized by the white feather he held in his hands.
And he still was at this moment. He couldn't tell where it had come from. It definitely wasn't a feather from a bird though, that was for sure. This feather was softer. Whiter. And some how, lighter, if at all possible. It felt positively fragile in his hands, yet he couldn't seem to put it down.
He twirled it around between his fingers, looking curiously over the shimmering white of the feather in the dim glow of his lamp. The only sound in his room being that of his TV as it quietly played Futurama. Though Sora was completely tuned out to everything but this feather.
Soon, Vanitas reentered his room, all dressed for work as he grabbed his two hoodies from the closet. He raised a brow to the brunet as he placed his hands on his hips.
"You're not even watching this, why is it on?" He asked irritatedly as he gestured to the TV.
"I'm listening to it..." Sora mumbled, his gaze never moving from the feather between his fingers.
Vanitas scoffed and rolled his eyes as he slipped on his hoodies.
"Yeah, whatever. I hope you at least washed that feather. God only knows what kind of diseases it's carrying from that fucking bird it fell of off." Vanitas said, his face scrunching up in disgust as he watched Sora stroke the feather.
"It didn't come off of a bird." He said mindlessly as he continued his gentle strokes. He couldn't help but touch it at this point. It was so soft. Softer than silk. It amazed him how different this feather was. It was so unlike any other, he couldn't believe it.
"Then what did it come from smarty pants?" Vanitas questioned as he took on his condescending stance and gaze.
"An angel?" Sora suggested with a shrug. Vanitas snorted at the notion, a tick forming in Sora's brow at this.
"Wow So, just wow. I applaud your idiocy."
"What the hell does that mean?" Sora snapped, finally looking at his brother with an angry pout.
"Look, I'd love nothing more than to sit here and continue listening to this lunacy, but sadly I have to go to work. See ya." Vanitas said, swiftly taking his leave as he narrowly missed being assaulted by a pillow.
"Bastard." Sora muttered as he sank back into his bed and continued to look over the feather, his annoyance with his brother quickly faded though as he stared at the snowy white object. Maybe he didn't know what it came from, but he definitely knew it had come from that mystery man. And whether angel or devil, he was definitely going to figure out what was going on here.
Well, it's kind of odd to say, but that feather I found, I found another. It was the weirdest thing, he wasn't even there from what I'd seen. I hadn't seen him the entire night. But as I was walking through the men's clothing I noticed it. Just sitting on the floor by one of the clothing racks. I'd immediately gone to pick it up, but when I looked at it, I found there was blood on it.
Sora's eyes were wide and fearful as he stared at the feather on the floor, his hand hovering just inches from it. He didn't know what to do. Walmart forbid employees from cleaning up blood without the proper equipment due to blood born pathogens, and his brain wasn't processing where that was located anymore. Then, not only did he not know who's blood this was, and even if it was that guy's, he didn't know if he carried any kind of diseases. Could supernatural beings even get diseases?
"Oh, there ya are." A familiar voice said from behind. Sora quickly retracted his hand and turned to look at his manager, Cid.
"What are ya doin'?" He asked as he walked up and peeked over Sora's shoulder at the bloodied feather. The man instantly frowned at the sight.
"Shit. Hang tight for a minute, I'm gonna go get the supplies to clean this up. Make sure nobody touches it."
Sora nodded in understanding, then Cid ran off for the back room. Sora sighed, looking back to the feather pensively before getting to his feet. He gnawed at his lip for a moment, eyes still glued to the blood stained feather. He was getting antsy just thinking about the possibility that it was that guy's blood. Slowly his eyes started to trail upwards, away from the feather, as he noticed something glimmering on the floor near by. It was more blood, spread out between each drop, but there regardless, and Sora instantly became curious.
Was it a trail of blood?
If so, that meant there was more through out the store.
He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Cid to come back. When the blond haired man finally did reappear, he showed him the trail leading off into the store. With a sigh, he pulled up his goggles so to see better, and placed his hands on his hips.
"Go follow it real quick an' find out how far it goes. We might need to block off the whole area depending on how much there is." Cid instructed.
Sora nodded quickly in understanding, then hurried off after the bloodied path. Thus far, it lead him all the way outside, into the cold dark night, where he closely inspected the thin layer of snow on the ground as he tried to continue his journey, searching for the red droplets in the white powdery substance that covered the cement.
Soon enough though, his search came to an end as the trail stopped beside a trash can and a vending machine off to the side, and turned into a puddle of blood between the gap of said objects. Though of course, that wasn't all he found, as a certain silver haired man sat in the puddle. His head turned downwards, his fringe effectively covering half of his face. His jacket was just barely hanging around him as he curled into himself, though he seemed practically lifeless to the brunet.
Sora gawked at him for a moment before his brain kicked itself into gear once more. With a sharp intake of breath, he got to his knees in front of the silveret.
"Sir, look at me. Sir? Are you okay?" Sora said quickly, reaching his hands towards the man cautiously. They hovered shakily above him as he tried to figure out what to do.
"Sir, please talk to me." Sora pleaded. There was a quiet chuckle, then suddenly a fit of coughing before the man spoke up.
"I'm fine." He whispered in a raspy voice.
"You're not alright sir, you're bleeding out. We need to get you to the hospital immediately! I'll call an ambulance right now!" Sora said quickly as he reached for his phone. Though just as he pulled it out, a hand grabbed his wrist weakly.
"Please don't." He whispered, taking a deep breath before breaking into another coughing fit.
"Please, this happens more than you think. I'm fine, really. Besides, doctors can't help me. Their medicine doesn't work on my kind." He explained, breaking into more coughs from the strain. More than anything, Sora wanted to ask what the man's kind was, but he knew this wasn't the time for that.
"But sir-"
"Riku."
Sora blinked his eyes in surprise, then furrowed his brows in confusion.
"Excuse me?"
"You keep calling me sir." Another cough and a few deep breaths. "My name is Riku, not sir. You calling me sir-" a cough, "makes me feel pompous." The newly named 'Riku' explained weakly with a halfhearted chuckle. Sora stared at him for a moment with wide, worried eyes, then slowly nodded, expression shifting to determination.
"Alright, Riku." Sora said, placing his hands on his shoulders.
Riku looked up at this, his piercing aqua marine eyes locking onto Sora's deep oceanic eyes.
"I can't just leave you here to die. You need a doctor, now. Understood?" Sora explained, now giving the silveret his stern look. Riku stared at him for a moment, then slowly, a small smile started to pull at his lips.
"You know, you're pretty cute when you're being all stern like this." Riku muttered in amusement as he shakily touched his hand to Sora's cheek, the blood on it smearing against his tan skin. Sora blushed brightly at the compliment. He had no clue how to respond to that. How could he even be thinking about such a thing right now? He was on the verge of death for Christ sake!
Seemingly sensing Sora's bewilderment and utter loss for words though, Riku spoke up once more.
"Yeah, I understand. But you don't." Riku said, his expression suddenly pensive.
Sora raised his brow in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
Before Riku could answer though, a bright light started to emit from him, especially where he was wounded. He held his hand over the wound though as a look of pure pain etched itself onto his features. Sora froze, unsure of what to do as the light surrounding the male got brighter and brighter. Just when it seemed almost blindingly bright, making Sora squint just to see, it started to dim, fading until it was just as dark as before it had started.
Riku's expression started to soften as he took a deep, sharp breath. Sora looked up at this with wide curious eyes. Riku panted softly as he released his wound. Or at least, where his wound used to be.
"See? All better." Riku said with a small smile, though his voice was still raspy. Sora stared at the healed skin with wide eyes.
"C... Can I... touch it?" Sora asked slowly. Riku looked at him in surprise then slowly nodded, moving so that Sora could easily touch the healed skin.
With a cautious, shaky hand, Sora reached out and brushed his fingers across gently, feeling his muscles twitch at his touch.
"How is that possible?" Sora asked curiously.
"Miracles happen everyday Sora." Riku said with a soft smile.
Sora stared at him for a moment as he continued rubbing his fingers across Riku's stomach. His stomach was smooth and firm to the touch, but as Sora suddenly realized what he was doing, he quickly withdrew his hand, looking off as a dark blush burst across his cheeks.
"I don't understand. Who are you?"
Riku shook his head as he slowly got to his feet.
"You will soon enough Sora. I promise. But not yet." He said, holding out his hand to help Sora to his feet. Slowly, Sora grasped his hand and was pulled to his feet. His legs were wobbly from having sat on them, but he managed to stay steady.
"I need to get going. I'll see you later Sora." Riku said, using a clean part of his sleeve to wipe off the blood he'd smudged on Sora's cheek and wrist. With a slight nod, he walked off, waving slightly as he walked away. Sora watched his retreating form until it disappeared into the dark of the night.
After a moment, Sora hurried back into the warmth of the store, hurriedly making his way back to apparel where Cid continued to await the brunet.
"You sure took yer time. How far does it go?" Cid asked as he was cleaning up the spot where the blood stained feather lay.
"All the way outside... To a puddle of blood by the vending machines." Sora said quietly. Cid's eyes widened and his eyebrows shot straight up.
"Are you serious?"
Sora slowly nodded, making Cid sigh and shake his head.
"We might have to close the store." He muttered as he got to his feet.
After that, the store had indeed been closed, any customers ushered out as the police were called to the scene. Sadly, Sora and Cid had to give statements of what they knew, though of course it wasn't much. The only problem Sora was having was whether or not to tell them about Riku. After all, he was the one bleeding. But he'd healed himself some how, and there was no way the cops would believe any of that.
In the end, I decided against telling the police about Riku. After all, they'd just think I was nuts for that story, especially since I didn't take him to the hospital and I'd have to explain how he'd healed himself. They wouldn't buy such a story. I just hope they don't go looking on the security camera's and see me talking to Riku.
