Chapter Fourteen

"The Imminence of an Ending"

Like a virus, you've sunken in. We've let you take over, surrendering ourselves to your every whim, sacrificing our safety for your own. Shielding you from the harshness of the outside world, and bearing the brunt of your childish rage.

..and look at you now; what have we taught you?

You should have known better than to trust those.. people.

The mortal soul is preplexing, disgustingly greedy, and those who it resides in will do anything for power. (power over other creatures, power over themselves, power over the dead. It doesn't matter to them)

For hurting you, these people will die, and we will take no greater pleasure than watching the light leave that teenage bastard's eyes.

--

Haru sighed loudly, rubbing his shoulder where -just moments ago- a shaking hand had grasped the material of his shirt. It was times like these, when reaching the other boy was impossible, that he wondered if he was simply an illusion, a character his mind had conjured up to keep it company.

The spirit was bewildering, real or not, and he wasn't sure just how much longer he could deal with the stress.

"Haru?"

He shifted at the sound, and his eyes fell on the nervous silhouette of his mother. She was holding something, bags of some kind, and the sight left a sickening worry lodged deep within his stomach. Without waiting for a reply, she stepped forward, dropping her packages on the wooden floor (of what he now recognized as his bedroom) and took him in her arms.

"Haru, we're leaving, okay?" She was crying quietly through her words. "I want you to pack your things, but only what you really need."

The ceiling ceaked loudly, and the woman cringed.

"Mom.. what happened?"

She let out a gasp, holding her son like her life depended on it, and only then did he notice the deep gashes running down her cheeks, over a sweating colarbone, and into a blackened blood stain on her breast.

"You're father and I.." Her fingers shook desperately. "W-we went into the basement.. there was this crying noise, it was so disgusting, but we were drawn to it.. Y-you're father's condition is worse than mine. Hiro's terrified, and I think we'd be better off as far away from this.. this goddamn house as possible.."

By now the windows were shaking, and the floor groaned. The loud tapping that they'd grown used to picked up, louder than ever before, and in the distance, he could hear the faint hiss of 'help me!'.

"But mom," Haru whispered. "Kyo-"

"Kyo isn't real, honey!"

The doors slammed, and a cry of fear could be heard from downstairs. The computer screen lit up, lights flickered, voices hollered all around them. "It's what you fucking get!" They screamed. "Burn in Hell! Burn in Hell!"

Music burst out from the radio, no skipping or static, but the notes were off tune, and the vocals were a low, demonic rumble.

He held his mother close, watching in horror as the transparent image of a woman stumbled through the hall, brandishing a bottle of whisky and rubbing her temple, where an ugly purple bruise was swelling.

"Baby!" She called. "You know mommy loves you!"

On the computer screen, words were flashing, and sadistic images loomed in the background. A man bleeding blackness from his eyes, a woman's skin being peeled off. The room filled with the scent of death, flies swarmed and every window.

"Haru!" Red eyes begged him to follow the voice, and without wasting a second, he ducked his head, held his mother close, and trampled through the clouds of dirt, stench, and flies.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kyo called into the air, but nothing changed, no calm set upon the house. It didn't seem to be listening.

He could hear his family calling to them, urging them down the stairs.

"Haru, you guys have to get out of here, okay?" The spirit yelled above the noise, shaking him into attention. "and don't you dare look back until you're in the next city, sitting by Kisa's hospital bed."

Haru shook his head, mouth hanging open uselessly.

"Get your family out of here, dammit!"

The long, shadowed figures that had pulled Kyo's younger self into the darkness, what seemed now to be a distant memory, lurked in the darkness of the bedroom, eyes gleaming in the flickering light.

Kyo growled in frustration, grabbing his boyfriend by the wrist and pulling him down the stairs. As they approached the landing, they reeled back in shock. Flames danced on the walls, filling the kitchen completely and spreading to the livingroom where Hiro and Haru's injured father stood, trying to no avail to douse the flames.

In the center of the floor, the wood sunk in, splinters sticking out around a gigantic hole. Wind was whirling around the room, sucking everything too light or loose into the chasm. His mother broke away, calling wildly for her husband.

For hurting you, these people will die.

The ceiling cracked, trails of dark liquid seeping down the walls.

you can't save them.

to be continued

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the next chapter is technically the last, but the epilogue will be pretty long.