Reflections-
"God of the Damned, send me a savior. I don't want to be alone anymore."
There was silence.
Sucking on his teeth to ignore the pain, Ryou cast an uneasy glance about the room. Nothing moved in the utter darkness. The green-lit clock above his stove read 12:14 am. He sighed.
"I guess that's it, then. Do hope this doesn't leave a scar," he muttered, examining the tinted palm. He gently wrapped his other hand around it, putting pressure on the vessel to slow blood flow. With minimal difficulty, he stood, and began wrapping bandages on the wound at the counter. Having reviewed the ceremony prior, he'd known quite well that he'd need to pre-prepare the first aid kit.
"Well, perhaps it's better this way anyway," the boy whispered to himself. Biting off the cloth with his teeth, he began to move quickly his thin fingers to knot tied the wrapping. But he stopped as there was a powerful and violent knock on the door.
Startled, Ryou fought down a wave of terror and excitement. He stared at the tri-locked door, searching for movement.
Approaching the door slowly, with great caution he peered through the peephole. Ryou saw nothing. Against his better judgment, he slowly and carefully unbarred the top lock, unlatched the bottom lock and unchained the center lock. Taking a deep breath, he turned the handle and opened the apartment door.
A wickedly grinning reflection greeted him.
Letting out a cry, he slammed shut again the door. Silence again reigned, save for the sound of the boy trying to steady his ragged breathing and racing heart.
'What on Earth was that?' he feared mentally. Ryou swallowed, braced himself, and opened the door again. There was nothing but dark and familiar hallways, the same that had always been outside his apartment. 'My mind is playing tricks again...'
Sighing deeply, he shut and locked the door. Mechanically, he proceeded to pickup the platter and the razor, wrap the razor in cardboard and slip it into the trash, rinse of the platter in the sink, lift his mother's now shattered mirror, and place it on the counter to be dealt with in the morning.
Except there was a problem. The mirror wasn't shattered anymore. As though his blood had been glue, the pieces no longer slid with scratching noises from side to side, and the cracks had been reduced to spider-web thin lines, barely visible in the dim light.
Ryou stared in fear and wonder at his own shocked expression. And he watched with mounting terror as it morphed into the grinning figure from the door.
"Ryou Takeya."
The white haired boy yelped, jumping away from the mirror. An echoing laugh filled his head, and in blind fright Ryou rushed into his room, shutting swiftly and tightly the door behind him.
His breathing was heavy, but even. And his hands, they shook violently. His room was completely black, and for a moment Ryou battled with whether or not to switch on the light.
"Light will call out to the Darkness..."
He shook his head, deciding instead to just go to sleep. 'My mind has played these sorts of games with me before. It was just never this real,' he concluded numbly. Without bothering to change from his clothes, Ryou slid into the bed and under the covers.
Ryou firmly shut his eyes and tried to clear his mind of cluttered-thoughts. Of the image of the strange face. He willed himself to drift to sleep. He willed himself to not even think until the morning.
"Awaken."
Ryou bolted upright, staring wildly at the deserted room. Little furniture stood, he had always been sparing in that fashion, and everything had an organized air to it. The only chaotic element was the bookshelf, pushed far off into a corner, crammed with new, used and borrowed books, all pointing to an occult obsession. Otherwise, the room was that of a completely normal boy.
A small, quiet whine dragged Ryou's eyes to the foot of his bed. There was no denying the large, narrowed, ice-blue eyes that stared back at him. Ryou had to swallow another scream.
"H-hello," he choked, staring at the eyes. They were attached to a crouched black form, something that looked vaguely like a panther. The creature breathed out heavily, releasing warm breath that Ryou could feel even from there. And he could taste it, too. It tasted like metal, almost like blood.
The thing whined again, and opened it's mouth a fraction of an inch. Already, the gleaming canines bore holes into Ryou's eyes. They called to his flesh, called for food.
As if by some Otherworldly will, Ryou recalled the book. Remembered the Post-cermony rules. Do not deny, embrace fear, avoid light, and give blood. Until this moment, he had not understood what the last line had meant. Fevertively, he began to pick at the tiny knot.
"H-how are you?" he asked in a slightly broken conversationally tone, just to break the overwhelming silence. The creature ran a thick, heavy tongue over it's teeth in anticipation. Ryou nodded gently, as though this was a perfectly logical response. Which for a shadowy spirit of unfathomable evil, is quite possible.
Finally the knot gave, and Ryou was able to quickly unwrap the hand. The blood seemed even partially dry; it at least was not flowing anymore. The boy gave an involuntary gasp as his bed rocked, and glanced up to see the creature pawing over to him, head down and staring at the hand. Ryou swallowed, and slowly raised his left hand, palm upward, under the creatures mouth. He could feel the hunger now, could feel it running mercilessly through his body.
The creature sniffed twice the upturned palm, paused, and then with almost frightening speed, concealed it within it's mouth. A shiver ran down Ryou's spine as he felt the heavy, papery tongue run over his wound, opening it up again. He felt the creature pull, sucking the blood from the cut, causing it to widen from sheer force. And Ryou was grateful that he could no longer feel pain from the wound as he sensed it grow wider still, opening a chasm into his body. Boring out a hole.
The creature ran it's tongue over the wound once more, and opened it's mouth. Quickly, Ryou pulled back his hand and released a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. All that remained of the cut was a triangular shaped, reddish colored scar of tight new flesh.
The boy swallowed and looked up. But the creature was gone, frightening icy eyes and all.
"Do not Deny, Embrace Fear, Avoid the Light, and Give Blood, Ryou Takeya."
"We are free."