:::Chapter 5::: 

:::Dream:::

The buildings were deserted. A pair of shoes that were walking broke the silence. The chestnut-brown haired girl walked slowly through the buildings, heading towards a place where she had worked before...The bathhouse.

            Chihiro examined the buildings. She knew that it was day, thus no one would be working. Everyone was asleep in his or her beds. She grinned. She was glad to be back at the Spirit World. She had missed it for the past 5 years and now, all the memories of everything that had happened here came back into her mind.

            Lin, Kamaji, Yubaba, Haku, Zeniba... Everyone. She missed them, wondering how they were. She looked up upon discovering that she was already at the bridge.

            Chihiro gasped in shock.

            "Haku!"

            Running towards the lone figure standing on the bridge, Chihiro wept with tears of joy. At the last few steps, she leap forward and was caught in a dark-haired man's embrace. He smiled at her and hugged her close to him.

            " Chihiro...Sorry to kept you waiting for these years." Haku whispered into her ear.

            " It's alright. You are here now! You have kept your promise." Chihiro hugged Haku back.

           

            Suddenly, the scenery changed... The bathhouse was shrouded with darkness. The trees and the sea around them disappeared into the gathering blackness, like a misty fog hanging over everything, making them hard to see. Evil laughter echoed around them.

            Slowly, the darkness gathered around the couple, as they stared at it in surprise and apprehension. Closer and closer it came, till Haku was also lost in it. His arms that were tight around Chihiro went limp and slowly, they disappeared.

            "Haku! Haku, where are you? What's happening here?" Chihiro cried out as the only person and thing left was her, standing in the middle of the thick darkness. She fell to the dark ground, breathless, and trying hard to gather air into her desperate lungs. Her hands clutched at her chest as she choked and coughed. Her vision turned black, and before she fainted, she thought she saw something white in the darkness...

            Something that she thought resembled to a pair of eyes...

::: Dream ended :::

            Gasping, Chihiro snapped open her eyes, breathing in big gulps of air. Her head was throbbing slightly and her eyes were wide with fear. Sweat was dripping from the sides of her forehead. Oblivious to all these and her surroundings, Chihiro tried to calm down.

            "It's just a dream. Nothing but a dream..." Chihiro whispered to herself. "It's not real..."

            Chihiro sat up when her heart finally regained its normal speed. She tried to wipe her sweat away but was shocked when she realised that her hands were tied to the bed she was on. She tried moving her legs but found out that it too was tied.

            Chihiro tried to stop the flow of shock in her body and tried to recall the events that had happened before she was asleep. Her eyes, at the same time, took in her surroundings. It was dark around her bed, with only a desk to the left side of her and a closet to the right. A door was exactly opposite her, closed. Other than that, there was nothing else.

            Chihiro slowly recalled that she was going home after separating from Yume. She had walked past an alley when someone had hit her...

            ' The white-eyed guy! I remember seeing his eyes before blacking out! Wait a minute, I'm tied in a room, and unaware as to where I am...This is kidnap! '  Chihiro's eyes widen at the thought.

            Just when she was going to think of ways to escape, the door opened. She looked up and saw a man walking in, his eyes gleaming with delight as he smirked at her.

            " Well, well, you have awaken, my dear. Don't be afraid, I'm not going to do anything to you...yet."

            Chihiro gasped in fear as the man walked slowly to her bed, like a predator stalking its prey. His shadow flickered on the walls, making him look even more dangerous then before.

            " Who are you? What do you want from me?" Chihiro managed to speak out before he stood right in front of her.

            Silence blanketed around them for a moment, before the guy spoke.

            " My name is Renshi. Now, as to what I want from you... I don't want anything from you. I just want you to be my mate," Renshi cut Chihiro off as she opened her mouth to talk." Reason is very simple. Of all the 200 years I have lived in the Spirit World, you are the only human to be able to leave in you human form, instead of being a pig and eaten. I followed you into the human world. No one in the Spirit World even noticed my absence. Currently, we are still in the human world, only because this building is deserted. Once we are back in the Spirit World, you will be my mate. Other female spirits have rejected me, saying something about me being a pervert and having a psychotic mind.

            " Of course, I don't believe them. After all, I'm myself and who knows me better, other than me? Well, I killed them all for saying something so untrue about me. Stabbed a knife through their eyes before killing them. Tortured them before finishing them off." Renshi laughed evilly, resembling a lunatic who had escaped the mental institute.

Chihiro fought the urge to gag. He was revolting her with all his stories about killing.  ' 'He's a lunatic! His mind is so twisted to actually torture and kill the innocent spirits! They were right. He is a pervert!' Chihiro thought.

            " Well," Renshi continued," What's your answer, eh? You want to be my mate? You are worthy of it, you know."

            " Hah! Never! I don't like psychotic people like you! The spirits were right. You are a pervert. Your mind is so evil and twisted! Anyway, I already like someone else, you pervert."

            " Shut up! What do you know?" Renshi roared back, his face growing red. " Since you refused and actually talked back, I will keep you alive longer than those previous spirits. It may be fun to watch you being tortured. Hahaha...I just love to see pained expressions!"

            Moving to stand closer to her, he slowly took out a whip, his white eyes gleaming with madness. His hand came out and took off her purple hair band…the one that Zeniba had given to her.

            " Now, now, I can't waste any of my magic if you have this hair band one, can I? It will all just go down the drain."

            Renshi's arm raised, his black whip clutched tightly in his hand. He smirked.

" It's time for fun, my little one."

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Hello!! Haha, yeah, I'm back with a new chapter! ^o^  Hope you all have not given up on me! My last exam, which is today, is finally over!! =D Haha, so glad to be back. Hope you all still like my story! And lastly, I thank all of you for not giving up on me. =D Well, that's all! Till the next chapter! (Which is very soon!) Haha... Till then! Tata~!

* Astgal*