It had been dark and cold, a chill wind having blown in from the Ice district. Sora hadn't believed he'd have any reason to be concerned this late at night, being skilled enough to trust what magic he'd picked up so far would be enough to protect him. It had worked through the stinging hail as he'd gone through Aqua district, as he always had to when leaving the night classes.
Many people had warned him about the dangers of the night, but they'd never materialized this far, and he hardly thought they'd start now. He had thought wrongly however.
A tall, gaunt figure had stepped out from an intersection ahead, looking around. She had been looking despairing, but on seeing him her expression had turned to a twisted look of grim anticipation, and she'd run for him. Sora hadn't been fool enough not to react, turning back to the nearest intersection and running.
The woman with surprising agility however, swiftly closing the gap between them. Sora threw back several bolts of lightning, all but a few evaded, and those that did catch seemed to have no effect. Before too long the woman had caught up with him, seizing his wrist and dragging him down a narrow back street, pinning him against the walls.
Again Sora tried to jolt his assailant, but even with direct contact the woman shook them off entirely.
"No magic here," she breathed. Here up close to her Sora could make out more even in the lessened light. She was dirty, clearly not having washed in some time, and her clothes were rank, torn and tattered. In several places wounds could be seen partly healed.
"What do you want with me?" Sora demanded, not giving up on struggling free. Her grasp pinned him too tightly though.
"He's hungry," she told him. "He wants life. No," she corrected. "He wants death. He wants you."
Sora couldn't help himself. "Who does? Who wants my life?"
"Him," was all she could say. She started to tremble, her eyes locked on him, then they changed, they became larger, darker, then little more than black orbs. Her mouth was no longer a sign of her twisted feelings but a maw ringed with sharp, serrated teeth that closed in on him – and paused.
He couldn't move. Not because he was being held, but because terror held too firm a grip. She looked no different except for these two changes, but they were disturbing enough by themselves. The strangely altered face regarded him for several long moments, then growled, "You're mine."
She stumbled back as if struck by a blow, and for a moment Sora had thought magic was at work. She was shoved back into the opposite wall and pinned there, mirroring the way he'd been held, the way he was still stood in shock.
Her features changed again, this time back to their original ones, quickly turning to an expression of terror.
"No!" she screamed. "No, please! Don't take me! Don't! I fed you, I gave you what you wanted!"
As she continued to sob and scream, unable to move herself, Sora's eyes were drawn to a movement in the shadows nearby. A small boy was stood there, watching. Watching with dark eyes, like those that had stared out of the woman's face for a time. He wore nothing but a pair of shorts to cover his ashen body, looking like something out of an old black and white movie. One hand was on the wall the woman was still pinned against as the boy watched Sora calmly.
"You're mine," the boy told him, in exactly the same cold, chilling voice the woman had used, as he spoke revealing the teeth, the sharp teeth. This wasn't a boy, this was some dark creature that had been possessing her. Sora tried to move to get away, but his limbs wouldn't respond.
The woman noticed too and also tried to free herself, then sobbing she pleaded to the boy, "Please don't kill me. I did what you wanted, don't kill me."
The Dark Child regarded her with a cold, disdainful expression, then looked back to Sora.
"She would have had me kill you," he told Sora, then smiled. There was no humour or kindness in that smile, only malice. "Would you kill to save your life?" he asked.
"No!" the woman shouted. "You wouldn't, you mustn't! Don't do it, don't listen to him! He'll kill me!"
"Everyone dies," the child snorted. "You no longer amuse me. But you," he said again to Sora, at last moving to stand between them. "You have the choice. Her life," he pointed to her, then turned back to him, "Or yours? Will you kill to save your life?" it asked again, more insistently.
Sora suspected he knew the answer but asked anyway. "You won't spare us both?"
The child grinned cruelly. "Someone dies tonight. You get to decide."
It wasn't a choice he wanted to contemplate, but held here, unable to move, unable to act, he felt like he had no choice. With a groan he said, "Gods forgive me, yes I would."
Now the child laughed, eyes narrowing. The woman hung her head, no doubt acutely aware of what was about to happen. The child walked back up a ways, turned to face Sora and pointed, as he did so Sora's own arm, not under his control, also reaching out to point back. For a moment everything went black, then he saw things differently.
He remained unable to move, but his view was lower, and from a different viewpoint – from the child's viewpoint! The dark child had put him in his place, and now he was looking back at his own body, watching as his own features now became those that had looked out of the woman's face, as his body was no longer held in place.
"Nighty-night," the child murmured to the woman in Sora's own voice, pointing again – this time to her head. She screamed once, then her head exploded upward, splattering the wall. Somehow the child managed to avoid getting anything on him, and Sora noticed the child's body he was locked in seemed to be intangible – it went right through him.
The child brought his body in front of him, kneeling to his level as his features returned to normal again. "You're mine now," it told him one more time and took his wrist. Another moment of blackness and Sora was back in his own body again, knelt down before an empty road. The Dark Child was gone, but he felt an unfamiliar cold touch inside him – it had been in the woman before, and was in him now.
He turned as if expecting to find something other than the remains of what had happened only to find the woman's body slumped, unmoving and headless, the remains of it scattered and splattered. It had definitely happened. He'd killed to save his own life. The child had used him, and anyone who made the connection would assume it was him. There was no doubt about it.
Sora fought back a retch, knowing if he left anything here it'd implicate him even more than he already was, got up and bolted, having no wish to remain anywhere near there. He didn't even care where he was going for the moment, just finding somewhere several blocks away where he could bring up his last meal, because he knew that wasn't staying down.
Once he'd finally calmed himself down somewhat, getting over the overdose of terror, he finally got himself back on the right track home. The entire incident had left him so late that Riku would already have gone to bed, but that he figured was a good thing. The less people knew about what happened the better.
That morning the news had picked up the story. It had taken every bit of effort he had not to show any reaction out of the ordinary, trying to treat it as if it was any different to any of the other strange murders that happened in a city filled with magic and those affected by it.
In the mirror Sora spotted the boy, stood there just behind him, watching, grinning with amusement. It clearly found this funny, but Sora wasn't laughing. He checked behind him only to find the boy wasn't there, he was only in the mirror – and after Riku had happened past it was clear that only Sora could see the boy in the mirror.
He'd promised himself there and then, he wouldn't become anything like the woman that had been killed. She'd tried to feed it – tried to find people for it to kill. That was what the Dark Child wanted, and what it got. But he was determined not to let it, not to make it easy.
