By now, you should know me well enough to know that I enjoy making people squirm. And while I hate reading cliffhangers myself, I absolutely love writing the suckers. Ah, yes. That's right. A nice cliffy heading your way. Hang on to your pants people, else they might become confiscated. :D

I'm seriously considering re-doing the first few chapters. They make me twitch when I re-read them.

I've been listening to that song, "Building A Mystery". That's why the chapter title is so weird. Quote: "You woke up screaming out loud, a prayer from your secret god…" Ah, how I love that song. I never get tired of it. "Can you look out the window, without your Shadow getting' in the way?" Full lyrics will be posted in my DevArt journal. Because I feel like it people. Feel good today my peeps. 'Cause today is all you can hold with your hands. It's all you have.

Plot twists make me squeal. The next fluff-filled chapter (after this one) makes me question my sanity. And yaoi/shonen-ai makes me wet my pants.

But you didn't need to know that last one.

Note: Iie means no. I tend to insert Japanese words wherever my subconscious feels like placing them. Sometimes Japanese words feel better in certain places.

The Shadow Enters

"Ain't there nothing on?" Ranu complained, flipping through channels on Kris's television (which got far more channels than the TV at his house for obvious reasons).

Kris just rolled her eyes and didn't bother to correct his English skills. She continued playing her game of Solitaire and tried to ignore his loud whining.

"I give up," he groaned finally, flinging the remote away. Kris's mouth twitched a little. It had taken forever, but she had finally managed to wean him off of his distaste for throwing objects around the room. It had been mostly Chi-chi's influence that caused him to dislike it so much, but after a little persuasion she had managed to convince him it was okay to throw things while he was in Capsule Corporation. While Chi-chi was there however…

"Tonight! On a Channel 6 Special In-Depth Report!" the television blared. Ranu stared at it, bored to the point of being comatose.

"An interview with a man who is accused of torture and murder beyond anything you have seen before!" Ranu's interest was peaked a bit and he decided he wanted to pay attention to this.

A lovely interviewer, a woman, came onto screen.

"If you're just joining us," she said softly, "We are here with a certain Dr. Morey, the accused. He has been accused of the torture of a young child, the traumatizing of other young children, and the murder of a colleague. We are talking with him live, in person, from his home, where he is under house arrest because of his fragile condition."

She turned towards a man sitting across from her. It was hardly recognizable as a human, much less a man. He was hooked up to so many machines that it seemed as if he was literally a part of them, and he looked pale and sickly. There was a huge gash across his face, barely missing one of his eyes.

"Now, Dr. Morey, is it true that you have pleaded guilty to all but the murder charges?"

A slow response, made gravelly and twisted by the man's throat.

"Yes. I did not kill Dr. Toshika. An animal in our laboratory did that, not I."

"And what of the torture charges?"

"…You must understand. The loss of my good friend, Toshika… it broke me. I did things I am not proud of, but I will not regret them. The same creature that I supposedly tortured was the one that killed Toshika."

The woman looked confusedly behind the camera, asking a silent question, then turned back to the man.

"But sir, you are not accused of torturing an animal. You are accused of torturing a small girl."

"That girl," he hissed past the tubes attached to him. "That thing you call a girl… no more than an animal. It looks humanoid, oh yes! How it looks the part! But don't be fooled by its camouflage. It is nothing but an animal. It killed Dr. Toshika, and it broke out of its cage and killed every scientist in the compound. It tried to kill me! But it only half succeeded, as you can see…" he finished, wheezing.

Ranu tilted his head at the glowing screen for a moment, before bursting out in laughter.

"Ha ha ha! Oh god… can you believe this Kris?" he chortled, turning to look at her.

She had frozen in place. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, filled with terror, and her tail had every single strand of fur standing up straight. Ranu's own eyes widened and he knew something was wrong.

"Kris-chan? You okay?" he said cautiously, edging his way towards her, and making sure to stay within her line of sight.

"Wait just a moment," the woman on screen said. "You are claiming that the small child you supposedly tortured was in fact not a child at all, but some kind of animal? And that this supposed animal is the one who killed Dr. Toshika?"

"Yes." He answered.

Ranu scooted closer to Kris, hands out in an appealing gesture and saying a bunch of nonsense in what he hoped was a soothing voice. If he could get her to relax, then maybe he could find out what was wrong. He just had to be able to touch her without startling her…

"Then is it true that you claim the entire scientific compound of Toshika Int. was demolished by this 'creature'? Its entire staff massacred?"

"Yes. I believe you have a copy of security tapes…"

"We do, however we have no records of the events which you insist happened. But now would be a good time to show them anyway. I warn the audience at home, the scenes you are about to see are graphic in nature and offensive to many. Channel 6 News holds no responsibility if the following offends you."

"Kris? Kris-chan, it's okay. It's okay. Talk to me. It's alright Kris-chan, I'm right here, see?" Ranu continued, tentatively reaching out his hand toward her.

She hadn't so much as blinked.

The sounds of an old tape being played came from the television.

"Iie! Iie!" a child's voice.

"God damnit, would someone get the tranquilizers?!" a female.

"No! Stop it! Stop!" the child.

"Now calm down, okay there little one? It'll be over soon enough," a male voice, soothing.

"N-no…" a whimper.

The tape skipped.

The sounds of violent retching and crying made Ranu turn his head slightly, to see what it was.

And he was frozen as well.

On and on the scenes went. The child's violent vomiting into a drain on the floor of a cement room with a dirty mattress shoved into a corner. The crying, the pleading for her mother. The bouts of hyper-active insanity brought about by whatever new drug they had injected her with, where she screamed and cried and broke her own tail…

Ranu gagged and scurried over to a wastebasket.

When his own vomiting quieted, the child on screen had as well. And Kris was gone.