Darkness.
The sky started to turn pitch black. The streets were beginning to fall away into mineshafts. The paint on the walls peeled away, shriveling inward like burnt paper before falling to the ground with a plop as if it had turned into goopy flesh. The air became significantly warmer and humid.
'What's...happening?' Shizuo thought.
'The Darkness...So the terrors of my dreams are true.' Izaya thought.
'I-I have to find Izaya!'
'Which means that little girl is in danger!'
The two adults ran.
'Where is he? Where is he? Izaya!' Shizuo ran through the burning streets, looking for the raven who surely needed his protection. 'He never lives through any of his dreams! He'll die and this time he won't wake up!'
"Izaya!"
Shizuo stopped at the mouth of an alleyway, looking around wildly. He saw a door open to what looked like a gym, the sight of a fur-trimmed coat barely making it in his vision before the doors closed.
"Izaya..."
Shizuo ran over quickly, panting ever so slightly.
He slammed the doors open. "Izaya!"
He saw no one, it was pitch black. Quickly, he turned on the flashlight and shined it every which way. It definitely looked like a gym but it looked like it was under renovations. Strips of plastic created a curtain to the floor but he definitely saw someone run past the plastic.
"Hey!" Shizuo gave chase. "Izaya!"
Shizuo pushed past the strips and froze.
The thing in front of him wasn't Izaya. It was grotesque and bulgy, it's body covered in weeping soars. It was hunched over backwards, its hands dragging against the ground with its head between its shoulder blades although its neck twisted so its head was right side up and staring at Shizuo with hollow eyes.
Shizuo backed away, eyes widening with terror.
Only to have something leap on his back. He screamed and struggled with the creature before grabbing the thing by its arms and throwing it to the ground.
The creature had a humanoid body but it looked completely starved and its arms were longer than they should be with skin that looked like it was nearly burnt. And its face lacked everything but a mouth with jagged teeth.
Shizuo went to run for the entrance only for three more to leap out of the plastic wall.
He screamed and turned. The bent-backwards monster groaned at him and took a heavy step toward him. Shizuo quickly looked around and saw an exit on the other side of the gym floor.
The long-limbed creatures leaped at him.
He ran towards the doors.
The bent-back monster reached for Shizuo with its spindly arm but the blond was more than a couple feet away so he payed attention only to the exit.
He pushed hard against the door but it wouldn't budge.
'Don't pull this shit now! This is reality so I can break you down!'
Shizuo pulled back and slammed his fist hard into the metal. It caved in around his hand but it only creaked open a crack.
With a call of rage and panic he brought his foot up and slammed the door open.
And an array of disembodied parts fell out.
Shizuo called out as he was buried by various pieces of human bodies. Blood soaked his clothes instantly. Hands and arms and legs and torso's tumbled onto him. His eyes went wide with horror.
Then he screamed. And began to kick and push and move the parts off of him while clawing and pulling at the ground to get out from under them.
He finally broke free and clawed himself out of the pile.
But he wasn't given time to rest as the long-limbed monsters were soon to be on him.
He leaped to his feet and ran. He looked around for another exit and spotted one by the broken bleachers. He was terrified about what could be on the other side but he had to get out! He had to get out of there!
He slammed against the door shoulders first...
And it gave without effort.
Shizuo wasn't expecting that, thus, he fell to the ground. His head slammed against the concrete, causing his vision to blur.
But he couldn't stop moving. He could hear those things coming for him. He had to move!
He forced himself to his feet, stumbling forward as his ears rang.
Where was he?
More plastic curtains. Darkness.
He dazily reached for the flashlight handle that swung spasmodically against his wrist. He fumbled to grip it but once in his hand, he looked over his shoulder as he stumbled forward.
His foot met empty air.
He screamed in surprise as he fell forward, his scream soon cut off as he fell into water.
No, not water. This was too irony to be water.
'No!'
Shizuo scrambled to the surface, praying that in his dazed state he was actually heading up instead of down. He gasped loudly, coughing up as much of the liquid as he could. Then he let his eyes focus and he was horrified to see his suspicion was right.
He had fallen into a pool.
That was filled with thick, red blood.
And he wasn't alone.
There were heads floating about, as well.
What's worse, they blinked at him, all turning towards the blond to stare at him.
He screamed and scrambled away. He looked around wildly, no longer under the effects of his head bang, and spotted the ladder behind him.
He turned and trudged through the blood, the crimson liquid up to his neck.
His hand reached for the rung. But never touched it as one of the long-limbed creatures attached itself to his back and pulled him under.
His throat ached in pain, his lungs screaming for air since he didn't hold his breath. He pulled at the creature, scratching at its arms to get it to release.
Feeling like he was going to faint, he became desperate. He closed his eyes tight shut and bent the arms as far backwards as they would go.
Until they snapped.
Even under the thick layer of blood, he could hear the limb break and it sent a chill of disgust and guilt down his spine.
But the creature released and Shizuo scrambled up for air.
He gasped again as he sucked in air greedily.
But soon he was holding his breath again as two creatures leaped on him, one on his back and the other slamming into his waist, knocking him off his feet and back underwater.
'Let me go!' He thrashed wildly, not caring anymore that he may hurt or kill these creatures. They were trying to kill him! Why should he care?!
But even as he told himself that, he was aware he was holding back. Not letting his full strength out so they didn't die from his blows. After so many years of restraining his strength to maim not kill, it was hard to tell himself otherwise to go for the death blow.
His lungs were screaming yet again. His limbs swung out wildly, without aim or precision. So the most he did was push them off, only to have the monsters back on him. His feet no longer touched the bottom of the pool. The creatures had pulled him out to the deep end, where not even Shizuo could touch and be above the surface.
Now he was in trouble. He couldn't hold his breath any longer. He had to get to the surface.
He kicked and punched and squirmed as violently as he could.
Then something strange happened.
The monsters holding him seemed to be...dissolving. Disintegrating.
Turning to ash under the blood.
And the blood seemed to be draining from the pool.
One kick off the pool floor and his head broke the surface.
His vision blurred as oxygen reached his lungs. Lightheadedness encased him. He couldn't stop himself from falling backwards as black encased his vision.
Izaya ran down the staircase Alessa disappeared down, the hall pitch black. Izaya kept his hand to the wall, unable to see anything.
"Alessa!" He called, where there was no reply.
He reached into his pocket and grabbed his smart phone. Flicking the screen across, he turned on the flashlight and shined it in front of him.
He padded down the staircase, following the path since there was only one way. He didn't like this. With the Darkness here, anything could jump out at him both in front and behind him. He could get trapped with no way out.
'Alessa...'
He turned a corner and came to a clearing. Well, it wasn't much of a clearing. There were fences laced everywhere, creating what looked like a maze.
And he saw Alessa on the other side, staring at him.
As soon as their eyes met, she ran.
"Hey, wait!" Izaya said, running over to the fence. He pushed and found an opening in the mesh. Giving it another shove, he managed to squirm through the gap and gave chase.
The two ran through the mazes, Alessa getting through the tiniest of gaps. She nearly lost Izaya as he always attempted to get through those gaps, as well. But she'd always turn and wait for him, looking over her shoulder. Izaya noticed that. He also noticed that his pants were getting wet from crawling on the ground and the slight drizzle that fell from the sky. He was aware that his hands were getting sticky for the same reason. He could only hope it was rain.
But he was also aware that he had to protect Alessa, no matter what.
No creatures had come out yet but it was only a matter of time before...
"Alessa! Wait!"
Alessa slunk through another gap.
But Izaya didn't follow.
Because there was something on the ground he definitely didn't want to crawl through.
It looked to be innards, a pool of intestines and bile.
He flashed his light up and nearly screamed.
A man was bound to the fence with what looked like barbed wire, looking as if crucified. He wore a heavy mining suit, the torso torn open. His flesh was torn in the same manner.
What's worse, Izaya could see the man's eyes flashing this way and that, see his lungs pumping sporadically as it seemed to be the only organ besides his heart still in his body.
He was still alive.
He was gutted alive.
Izaya backed away, horrified. Not even in his dreams had he seen this. In his dreams, he was alone. No one was in this hell but him.
He had never seen this!
But his attention was drawn to something else. He heard someone walking up behind him.
He turned to see his nightmares come alive. A child only a little shorter than him with sickly gray skin and long disproportionate claw-fingers stared up at him with orange lights glowing out its hollowed eyes.
Its opened its mouth, a piercing screech tearing through its throat before its face twisted up to the side of its skull, its mouth stretching to accomidate the act.
Izaya screamed, nearly dropping his phone. But he managed to shove it in his pocket before he turned to run.
With his turn, he noticed more and more Gray Children were surrounding him. And that he was surrounded by fencing.
Reverting to his character of running from a blond monster, Izaya leaped up the fence and climbed over.
Once safe, he looked around wildly for the girl he came to protect.
"ALESSA!"
He looked left and right, then spotted the little girl huddled on the ground, crying. He ran over and touched her shoulder.
She slowly turned her head to look up at him.
"...You're Alessa Gillespie, aren't you?"
'The girl from my dreams...'
She didn't answer. Just stared at him.
Then he heard the screech.
He turned to see three Gray Children on him, one raising its mutant hand up. Those claws came across his chest as quick as a whip but Izaya back-stepped and leaned back enough that they weren't deep, just cut his shirt ever so slightly and a little of the skin underneath.
He fell back due to his momentum. But he flung his foot up and kicked his assailant away. The one collided with another Child. With a whine like an infants, the Child turned on it's fallen friend and began clawing at it.
Alessa watched him fall on his rump with a blank expression. Izaya didn't have time to question why this girl was numb, however. Given a prompt distraction from the fighting Gray Children, Izaya turned, scooped Alessa up, and pushed himself to his feet in a run.
The girl wrapped her arms around Izaya's neck, not making a sound as the raven ran through the maze of fences. He could hear the creatures pursuing him, sounding as if more were coming, more were being created to chase him.
His heart thudded in his chest, his legs aching, his eyes searching for an escape.
And as if fate was being kind to him this time, a house came into view. He ran to it. To which he couldn't miss the fact that the door was shut.
'If this is anything like my dream then that door will be...'
"Keep your head down." Izaya ordered as he put his hand on the back of her head to keep it from shaking.
He charged at the door, turning his body at the last second to slam his shoulder into it.
His body impacted hard into the door, sending pain through the socket joint and causing him to call out. But he had been right.
The door was locked. Well, more like barricaded. There was something heavy in front of it but upon him slamming into it, the thing shifted so the door was ajar.
He backed up and slammed his foot into the door. It gave yet again.
'Dammit, come on!'
He ran forward and slammed into it again.
The object was knocked out of place and the door swung open.
Izaya tumbled forward, twisting his body so he fell on his back and not on Alessa. He managed to keep his head from slamming against the ground by keeping his head tilted up but the wind was knocked out of him. He huffed, hacking and coughing, but gave himself a short time to recover. They were coming, he didn't have time to waste. He rolled over and released Alessa.
"Stay *cough* stay back."
He stood and slammed the door shut. Or went to but two pair of clawed hands were between the door and the wall, forcing it open. He braced himself against the wooden layer, pushing as hard as he could.
"Look for a knife, a wrench, anything!" He yelled.
Alessa stared at him for a moment, then went about doing as he said.
Izaya's shoes began to slip against the concrete floor. He groaned and quickly took a step forward to try and counteract their pushing.
She returned momentarily with a bowling pin.
He took it from her.
'It'll have to work!'
He turned and slammed the bowling pin against the fingers. There were screeches of pain and protests as those hands retracted.
Finally, the door slammed shut.
He reached over and grabbed a chair, propping it against the door knob. Then he grabbed the table and pushed it in front of the door as well to pin the chair in place.
He looked around for anything else to barricade with but before he could, the door slammed, creaking open by an inch.
"Shit!" He looked around. Then grabbed Alessa. "Over here! Here!"
He opened a closet door and sat Alessa inside.
"Stay here and don't come out no matter what, got it?"
She nodded.
Izaya shut the door.
And at the same time, the front door opened. He turned to see nearly ten to fifteen Gray Children withering inside. He looked around for a weapon, knowing a bowling pin wouldn't do much against the horde.
'Dammit, stupid plane! If only I had my knife.'
He spotted a metal chair leg, broken off and rusty, but sharp. Only problem, it was closer to the Gray Children.
He had to risk it, though.
He had to keep Alessa safe.
So he lunged forward, reaching for the bar.
As his hand came around it, three different pairs of hands grabbed him, fastening into his hair and coat.
"Get off! Let go!" He swung the bar wildly, feeling it slash into flesh and feeling blood spray.
Two of the creatures released but one still held on, holding onto his coat tightly. Izaya struggled out of his coat, holding onto the bar tightly through all his efforts.
Once freed, he turned and lashed out again, slicing into another creature, blood splattering on his neck and cheek.
He turned to stand.
And all too suddenly, a hand slammed into his face, backhanding him hard.
His world spun as he fell to the floor, feeling the Gray Children beginning to claw and grab at him. He swung out again, but it was weak and feeble. His vision was beginning to fade to black.
'If I...die here I won't wake...up. I have to...survive. Alessa...Shizu-cha...'
Izaya's world went black.
But not before he saw ashes fall to the floor.
