Ichigo Kurosaki was not having a good day, at all. It had started this morning when he felt like something was following him. Every instinct in his body was screaming for him to run, but Ichigo Kurosaki never showed fear, especially while in public.

He did manage to receive a scrape for his stubbornness after he was knocked over. He heard the story on TV later that day. It turned out people thought it was some sort of explosion, but there wasn't any bomb residue to be found. Ichigo shrugged it off as just another strange thing that happened to him and he went upstairs.

There he lay for roughly twenty minutes, simply staring at his ceiling. He had some homework to do and a half read manga he could get into, but he didn't feel like doing either of those. Ichigo eventually decided just to fall asleep.

That is, until all his nerves were suddenly on alert. Ichigo shot out of bed, his heart pounding in his chest and his skin covered in a thick layer of goosebumps. He went to the bathroom and splashed water across his face, trying to ease the sudden nausea.

"Run!"

Ichigo snapped his head up to look in the mirror. He was positive that for a moment his face had become bone white, but it had faded now. The voice was gone too, but he was also positive that it had come from the mirror.

For as long as he could remember, Ichigo had been able to see ghosts. Maybe one was just messing with him now? He had told off a few of them earlier today for bugging him in public. He usually dealt with them on the weekends or some evenings, but never on his way to school or at school for that matter.

Still, something about this feeling was different. Yes, Ichigo recognized it as supernatural, but it was coming from within his own mind as opposed to actually physically surrounding him.

After Ichigo shut off the tap, when he looked back up to the mirror, he nearly screamed. The bone-like mask had returned, this time behind him. Before he had the chance to turn around, a hand reached out and grasped around his waist.

The next thing Ichigo knew, his body was out in the night's cold air and he'd been thrown roughly down against the pavement. His whole body hurt, more than he thought it should have, and when he tried lifting himself off the pavement he noticed something on his chest.

A chain.

He recalled that this was how he distinguished the living from the dead. All the ghosts around him had a chain on their chests. "Am I… dead?" His voice was hoarse and quiet. One thing he knew for sure was that he was in a lot of pain.

"Yes, little soul… I've removed you from your body, and now you're mine!" Ichigo could feel it's breath on the back of his neck. He wanted to scamper away, but the monster had stepped onto his chain. He cried in pain as he was brought to his knees, but he wasn't giving up without a fight. Ichigo tugged as hard as he could until the chain broke, then Ichigo ran.

"You can't escape me, boy. You're a hundred years too young!"

Ichigo had almost made it down the block when the masked figure appeared in front of him. He skidded to a stop, "What are you!?"

"I suppose it's fair that I grant your final request. I am a Hollow, the demon of this world… and you are my prey. Your soul is powerful enough to end this eternal suffering. I must devour it!"

Ichigo's eyes widened, but he was far too slow. The Hollow leapt onto him and he cried in agony as the Hollow tore him apart like picking chicken off a bone. Ichigo didn't shut his eyes until he was positive there was no way out of this.

When he opened his eyes he was a dully glowing figure floating in a sea of black. Around him were other souls, each soul glowing less than the next.

"Where am I?" Ichigo's voice echoed throughout the empty pit.

"Within the beast," an older man replied. "Do not waste your energy on speaking, youngling. You'll soon realise that without energy you'll lose yourself in here."

Ichigo gulped, and before he could reply there was a scream. Ichigo and one or two others, those who glowed the brightest, turned to see a woman with her face screwed up in pain. She arched backwards almost painfully, her mouth open in a shriek and her eyes wide with terror. Then her body shrivelled up and she vanished into the darkness.

"Another one lost…" the older man murmured. "As you can see, her power had been completely drained and her soul became a part of this… Hollow. Look around you, boy. Those who glow dully are next to vanish. Soon everyone in here will become a part of that creature, and will lose their individuality."

Ichigo sighed and shut his eyes, hoping he'd soon wake up from this nightmare. A week had him realise this wasn't a dream, and a month had him hoping that the next person who joined this hell wouldn't be a face he recognized.