Sleepwalk

A dark light. I see a dark light over in the distance. It's shining, somehow. It's kind of a long way away, but I can see it. It must be huge.

I'm standing here in my PJ's—well, pants, anyway—and...is that me walking by? My cat form. He just glared at me. This is too weird.

I guess I better follow him. He's going to the light. It's a long way away. Weird, I can't hear his claws tapping on the ground. Or my feet, for that matter. There's something...off about all this.

I stop in front of what looks like a statue. No, I don't stop, my cat form stops. I stop behind him.

It's...my mother...

My teeth are grinding. Even the memory of her makes me angry. My fists clench. God, even just seeing that statue tenses me up, heightens all my senses. I never got to settle things with her. God I wish I could...

Then the statue explodes.

I have to duck to avoid a big piece of marble coming at me. There's something coming out of the base, where the statute was. Some kind of gas, or aura. It's the same kind of stuff as whatever the dark light is. It goes over to the cat, and sinks into its fur. He doesn't even seem to notice, but I see a weird black tint starting to color him.

He starts moving again, and I follow him. Another statue. I can tell this one from further away, I've seen that ugly mug so many times. That damn rat.

I go running right for his head, and kick it clean off. It feels amazing to finally do that to him. But as soon as I do, this statue also crumbles. And a real rat crawls out of the rubble.

I can't even pick myself up from the ground (I must have fallen when the thing shattered) before my cat form jumps on the rodent. I see his claws and teeth rip into the white hair and the naked tail. The cat rips the rat open, and that same weird aura comes out. This time it looks like he can feel whatever it is sinking into his skin. His whiskers are twitching. That tint gets darker.

We keep walking.

There it is: the dark light. It's hypnotizing, the way it swirls like that. It's like a void, or something. That orange me walks right up close, but I'm hanging back a bit. There's something about it that isn't right. Well, okay, no duh. But still.

The cat paws at the light. His hand gets stuck, and he tries to pull it out. I can see some weird goo on his fur. His tail is sticking straight up; I can feel my own hair rising at the back of my neck. The cat starts panicking. It looks like he's getting sucked in...No...pulled in...

By a hand...

Akito.

I can see him now. Right in the middle of the swirl. He's beckoning to me, not the cat me, but the me me. I take a step back.

The cat keeps struggling. It's not gonna work. Akito's got him. That goo is hardening all over his fur, he's trapped. Eventually, he just sinks into the dark light.

And now Akito's holding him again, inside the light. He's clean. He looks almost happy but...No, I know better. He's given up. Just lying there.

Akito stares at me. His mouth doesn't move, but I hear his voice echoing all around me.

"You know your destiny, Kyo. Why do you fight so hard against it? It's useless. Like you."

Something starts to come out of the portal. Ropes and threads of that horrible black goo, coming toward me. I step back, I try to dodge, I try to fight them. But they've got me.

It hurts...Dammit! Everywhere they've got me, it hurts!

"The pain only comes when you try to be strong," he says. "If you'll just accept how worthless you are, the pain will go away."

"No way!" I hear myself yell. Even though I really don't remember saying anything.

More pain! I have to still be yelling; I'm trying to keep my mouth shut. It's so strong...I'm...I'm getting weaker...

Okay, that's enough! This is too much! I...wait a second. This has to be...I must be...

"Kyo?"
"Ah!"

Dreaming.

I shake my head a few times, trying to clear it. Tohru's in front of me. She looks worried.

"Kyo-kun, it's four in the morning! What are you doing in the kitchen?"

"Whu?" I mumble, rubbing my eyes.

"Oh, you must have been sleepwalking. You should be more careful, Kyo-kun!"

She's trying to scold me. If I weren't so tired, maybe I'd be annoyed. "Well what about you then? What're you doin' up?"

"Oh, well, Shigure-san wanted a snack, so—"

"Nevermind." She stops talking. Dammit, why do I always do that? I swear I don't mean to be so hard on her. My hands in the pockets of my pants, I start walking back to the stairs and my room. She turns around to start cooking.

"Tohru?"

"What is it, Kyo-kun?"

"I...thanks for waking me up." Before she can say anything else, I go up the steps. She always does wake me from my nightmares.