A/N: Thanks for the reviews people: you know who you are!
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The Tormented
By: Elie
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Partitioned Room – a room where there are Japanese Paper Screens dividing small rooms from the rest.
Her eyes fluttered open and the first thing she saw was Jin staring down on her. His paleness made him glow and the glitters of his eyes were fading slowly.
She jolted. "Jin!"
But, hazel eyes did nothing but look at her somberly. "Xiao, I'm sorry…"
Upon hearing Jin's words incredulously, Xiaoyu felt her heart melt. His voice was soothing, and the tone he had was enough to make her feel better.
"About what…?" she asked innocently, but deep down, she knew he was apologizing for the things he said earlier.
Surprisingly, Jin shrugged it off as he hesitantly extended a hand out to her. "Can I…touch you?" he asked out of nowhere.
She smiled from the statement, reaching for his hand in return.
Ting
A bell rang, and her mind began spinning until she felt her whole surroundings being altered. And then, the rotating stopped, and Jin was nowhere in sight.
She panicked. Her heart and mind were screaming from the sudden disappearance of her fiancé's soul. And then, it happened.
Looking around, she noticed she was back on the same foyer. Three candles were lit up on top of a barrel at the corner, serving as her starting lights.
Craning her head, she saw the door leading outside. But, she spun again toward the narrow corridor leading further to the mansion.
Go back or go in…
She had two choices. Go out the door and forget about this dream, forget about Jin…or, go further in and pursue Jin…
Ting
Images of her and Jin together flashed in her mind, and unconsciously, her feet began dragging her toward the small hallway.
Jin, I'm sorry. But, I want to be with you…she thought randomly as she slowly began to run, armed with the Camera Obscura in her hands.
She kept on running until she spotted a way on the left side of the hall. Snaking her pockets, she found the flashlight and then aimed it instantly in front of her.
And then, she halted. There was an old, wooden door in front of her. Hesitating no more, she opened it and found her self inside a long, partitioned room.
In nervousness, she walked in a fast pace, ignoring a few old drawers she passed by until she reached another door beside a small cabinet with a little Japanese doll sitting on top.
As she turned the knob and swung the door open, the doll fell unexplainably. She quivered at the sight, yet continued to get inside.
There was a staircase leading to the next floor and a blue lantern right in the corner. Without hesitation, Xiaoyu took the stairs, and found herself in another hallway.
From afar left, she saw another stairs leading down and near her was leading upstairs.
She felt numb of the situation. She didn't know where to go first. Taking a deep breath, she decided it was best to take the one leading downstairs.
When she had gotten down, she noticed the walls in the particular area were made of tatami. Interrupting her marveling were moans she couldn't explain.
She walked in further and turned right, seeing a small door made of wood and copper. Her head leaned onto the wall above it, and she listened more intently to the painful sounds being moaned.
They seemed to be men's voices.
Pushing the door, she was now inside a very narrow corridor – far smaller than the one at the foyer.
But when she saw the filament of the camera turn red, she felt her hair stuck out to its roots as a man dressed in rumpled white clothing with a tall court hat walked right through her and headed toward a wall-
- And dissolved, leaving a human bloodstained mark in it. And then, the bloodstain turned black.
Xiaoyu shrunk from the sight, shaking her head to relieve herself from what she saw.
With the camera, she snapped a photo of the wall, now with several human shaped bloodstains, and quickly turned right.
The Stained Corridor, as now she would call it, was filled of sacred ropes hanging around its walls. There were also candles lit up at the corners, making it seem like a sacrificial room or something.
But the weird thing was that the human-shaped stains seemed to encircle the walls of a wide square in the middle of the small hallway. Xiaoyu noticed there were two rooms, one was beside her, and the other was further left.
Shrugging, she took the furthest again –and found herself outside – back to where she had started.
Snow was falling, and there were many graves mounted atop each tomb. The familiarity of the place led her to one conclusion: this was where she first saw Jin in her delusion.
Ting
The cold now seeped through her clothing, right through her flesh, and she shuddered from the feeling.
Ting
She ignored the sound as she held the camera and took a snapshot of the graves. This place must be the Grave Courtyard…she nodded thoughtfully.
Ting
A gasp escaped her lips when she saw Jin's spirit opening another big door across the tombs. "Jin, I'm over here! Jin!" she frantically called out.
Ting
But to no avail, Jin entered the next room, and the door shut in an instant.
Ting
Xiaoyu held her breath, and ran toward the door, snow dropping right at her face. Why can't we talk straight? Why do we have to struggle like this?
Ting
Her thoughts were swallowing her as she pushed the door open, and then, she felt her mind skip as the image in front of her turned into a white haze –
Ting
- And then, into another location.
"Now, where am I?" she nervously asked herself, her chocolate eyes bolting at every direction. "This place is…"
Ting
Right before her was a very long hallway with strange lit candles hanging in the walls' length while a faint illumination coming from the moon seeped from the windows.
Ting
Xiaoyu cringed. "Jin?"
A glowing figure caught her sight, and then, its glow dispersed and changed into a more humanlike color. There, she felt herself being lifted up.
"Jin!"
…
Jin heard someone desperately calling out his name as he was about to turn the knob leading to another room.
Ting
It was that annoying bell again. He hated that sound. It was as if to tell him that it was time for him to go.
Ting
"Jin, I'm right here!"
Turning and letting go of the knob, he saw Xiaoyu running up to him and –
-disappeared.
…
Jin
She jolted up and then felt an etching pain spread on her back. She gritted her teeth and then clutched her shoulders tight. She craned her head and saw the tattoo spread further. And for a moment, the pain stopped and the tattoo disappeared.
And then, the door to her room opened, revealing Asuka leaning on the side.
"Hey, sorry if I woke you up, but I'm going to Julia's house today." Asuka said.
Xiaoyu smiled. "Oh, okay…"
Asuka looked at her, and hesitated. "But –"
"No, really. I'm fine on my own." Xiaoyu cut her off.
Asuka shrugged, and waved goodbye.
Xiaoyu shook her head and closed her eyes. She knew it herself, but she wasn't fine at all.
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A/N: Don't worry, if you love Asuka, there will be more of her in Hour IV: The Subduing Song. And, Please review…it would mean a lot to me and encourage me to write more…so please.