Closer, and closer, the footsteps grew. Now, I felt certain that the "Thing's" direction headed towards me and down the stairs. The closer it drew the more certain I became, for at this point it stepped into my line of vision. It stood atop the staircase, its dead eyes staring forward, and not towards me. I heard my breath hitch as I began caging the air in my lungs. My pulse hastened yet again, and I swore it was audibly thundering so others could hear it. Praying mentally for just a split second, I hoped that, by some miracle, it wouldn't notice me. I adjusted the hilt in my clammy palms, trying to get a better grip on the sword – just in case. Time around me seemed to slow tremendously, the time of waiting almost endless yet only momentary. I forced myself to breathe quietly, slowly. In… out… in… out…
The "Thing's" head snapped, it's bleak, soulless eyes piercing into mine, which widened upon the movement. Within milliseconds after its head turned, I felt my body flinch, jolting by reflex. Once again, I could no longer hear or feel the air in my lungs exchange with the surrounding atmosphere. Hitched air refused to leave my lungs, no matter the cost.
Nihon. Kiku. Move. Now. Breathe. DO SOMETHING.
Trying to remain calm, I fought to move my feet. No movement, nothing. My brain vied with my nerves and my frozen feet, yelling at them to move, to do something. With each step it took, the monster grew closer and closer to me, proceeding down the stairs.
"Come on, feet. Move." I muttered, demanding my body to follow orders. Instead, my hands clamped tighter onto the hilt. I exhaled in irritation.
"Wrong action!" I grumbled. There was no chance I was going to let myself die, so why on Earth was my body so panicked?
Thump… Thump…
Halfway down the stairs, it was, yet my feet refused to move. I bit my lip hard, hoping for a sense of awakening. No reaction. Frustration quickly simmered, almost boiling in my gut. I needed to act. Now. With it advancing as fast as it was, I had no time to waste on my nerves, a fear of dying – which I never dared to allow. The "Thing's" steps, as gigantic as they were, allowed little to no time before we would be directly face to face, before it would attack. Subconsciously, I counted down the number.
10…
I gnawed on my lip once again, struggling with myself. I remembered being told that the brain was the "control center" of the body. Clearly, it was failing it job at the moment…someone needed to come in and fire the damned thing.
9…
No, seriously… My body was taking orders from an underling. Such things were not allowed in a time of battle. Sure, fear grew within anyone who fought, but not at this rate. My nerves needed a reality check. Brain – boss, the thing in charge, the logical one. Fear – an emotion which tells you to do something…
8…
I wasn't even going to continue with the mental debate, "which is boss, the brain or the fear?", simply because fear made people work to fix things, to work to regain a state or feeling of being calm. That being said, my feet needed to listen to reason – even if they were not sentient things.
7…
The "Thing", now to close for comfort, seemed to be picking up its pace. Whether or not I was imagining the change in its speed, it was visible that the distance between us would shrink and very quickly disappear if not in seconds from now.
6…
My mind, racing as fast as it was, could not comprehend what would've possibly happened if I froze upon confrontation. I would NOT allow myself to go down this way.
5…
There was still time left. If I planned on acting, on moving, I had no choice but to do it now. So why couldn't my nerves just listen?
4…
"Come on, you are a sordier, Kiku," I grumbled at myself, "Get over yourserfu!"
3...
Still no response.
2..
"MOVE!"
1…
Face to face now, we stood, caramel eyes gazing into lifeless ones. Without even a moment for thinking of an action, the monster swung a giant hand at me with the intent of scratching my flesh. Time momentarily slowed yet again. I watched the appendage advance towards me, through the air. One final time, my brain demanded a response from the body, a dodge at least. Only moments before contact, I leaned back, hinging out of the way from its claws.
Finally! Nice to have you back, Kiku.
Quickly taking a step back, I planted my foot in the ground as I swung my sword. The nice "shink" of blade slicing flesh and colliding with cartilage ripped through the air. Upon impact, I removed the blade and swung for another slice, more towards the monster's central body. Clank, parried by its other arm.
Tick… tock… tick… tock…
The battle commenced as I searched for an opening. I had already recognized that there was no way I could fight this monster, this "Thing", alone and live to tell the tale; however, death was by no means an option. Finally, it lunged towards me, leaving a gap for me to exit with. If my body would continue to listen, I realized that this split-second would most likely be my only opportunity of escape. Instead of swinging my sword, like planned, I jumped out of the way, dodging the attack, and dashed up the staircase. As I darted for my life, I couldn't help but feel the tug of an approved, contented smile on my lips. However, this was no time for celebration. The thunderous pounding of the footsteps behind me headed up the stairs as well. I dared not look, instead I glued my eyes in the direction of my steps. Turning a sharp corner at the top of the stairs, I sprinted for the door straight ahead, furthest down the hall. Pushing myself to run faster than my limit, I prayed that I had time to lock and barricade the door upon entrance. Closer and closer, my escape drew. Closer and closer came possible escape, and as soon as that doorknob was in arm's reach, I twisted and yanked, hurling myself inside.
I slammed it behind me with great haste, locking the knob from the inside. The audible panting, gasping of air filled my ears. My eyes shifted, glancing around.
Gee… Lovely…
I had entered a nearly vacant room, completely white, with only a piano and three panting, whimpering bodies in it, and nothing to barricade the door with.
Wait a second…!
Bodies. Living bodies. This only meant one thing…
I found the group I was searching for.
/...\
A/N: I finally finished another chapter. It took me forever, but please cut me some slack. School has been really stressful and harsh lately as I have been desperately trying to keep my grades up. Luckily, school gets out in two weeks, so I should be able to write more frequently.
There are no necessary translations needed in this chapter, so you should all be good.
Please review, guys. It really does motivate me to continue my works and not drop them dead in the middle of the water. I hope you all look forward to the next chapter. Until then, ciao!