Author's Note: Um... there's a bit of a scene in here, but it's nothing too bad. It doesn't go that far. Oh yeah... and there's a horror bit, but it's not too bad either.

This story (well... it seems that this "soul" part of it) was inspired by favorite song of Evanescence "Bring Me To Life" of the "Fallen" track.

Oh yeah... and the horror bits of this story were inspired to me by the scariest horror game (to me): Silent Hill 4: The Room. Although... there is no crazy man and the 21 sacraments or whatever and blah, blah, blah... I still get unnerved just thinking about the game (never play it unless you KNOW you are not afraid of anything...) Anyways... enjoy reading chapter 12!

Chapter Twelve:

The Seventh Door

He took her soul and replaced the body with another... but what will he do with the one left behind?... Where will she go?...

The doors... why are there so many of them? Where should she start to look for the way out? She wasn't in a nightgown no more, nor any kind of dress, but in that same pinstripe suit she once worn before. I guess dreams let you be in the garments you want to wear.

Kyle began to whimper fearfully as she slowly trailed down a long, narrow hallway -- to which, were many wooden doors with numbers on them. Numbers that did not go in any kind of order, but more at a random pace. She couldn't remember how she had gotten here; no idea where she was right now. The last thing she could recall, was a tall, dark figure leaning over and starting to grab at her. That was the last image in her mind, and now, she was here.

Kyle slowly examined the numbers on each door to see if one of them meant anything to her. She saw numbers that went past the trillions, and than back down to the mere ones and tens, some of them were even upside-down! There was one number she could relate to though. One of the doors had a brass number of '101.' "Oh... 101, as in 'one-hundred and one Dalmatians'. The movie!" A wry little smile formed on her face, as if she had accomplished something there, but when she would go through this door, she will realize... that she has gained nowhere near to a reward. Kyle breathed in and out heavily, put a shaky hand on the brass doorknob, and then she carefully opened the door. The door itself creaked eerily along the way.

Kyle's eyes widened when she saw what was on the other side of this door: a tunnel -- well, it was more of an area; a very large place of some sorts. A very dim-lighted place, with a few hanging lamps, and a couple of them flickered. Their lights were dying out. The young girl swallowed hard and than gathered up some courage to step through this door, even though in her heart, she could feel that being here was very bad for her. She hugged herself and looked around her semi-dark surroundings, but her eyes caught sight of the walls, which had signs and writing all over them. Kyle slowly walked over to the sign boards and read what they had written on them. She saw arrows and certain times posted up; stating when the next train was to arrive and when it was going to leave. As the young girl gazed around her surroundings once more, she now realizes that she's in some kind of subway station -- at least, it seemed to be abandoned now... When Kyle was about to leave through the door once more, since there was no use staying in the eerie subway area, she gasped silently to see that the door she had entered... was gone.

"They wait... and wait for years. They just want to die, but death never comes."

Kyle whimpered when she heard these soft whispers bounce off the walls of the subway tunnels. She spun around to try to find where they were coming from. The whispering never stopped; it spoke in a child-like manner. The tunnels seemed to become more disoriented when looking at everything a second time. Kyle wanted to cry for help, but most of all, she just wanted to break down and sob for all the grief she had right now.

"It's not their fault. They fly aimlessly for a way out. Any way out."

Tears were still clinging to her face as she began to quickly walk through the halls of the subway, passing by more sign boards that appeared to drip blood, and have bloody hand prints all over them. As Kyle began to go down a small flight of stairs, she took a light tumble but no major harm had come to her. She groaned in pain and managed to lift herself to a kneeling position on the stairs. Her eyes grew wide with fear when she suddenly heard the sounds of something banging itself against the walls... and the lifeless moans that followed with it.

"If stay hear any longer... they will take you with them. Will never get out."

Kyle turned her body around and almost screamed out when she saw a limped figure emerge from the tunnel walls. It almost seemed that they were just coming out of a black, rubbery substance of the sort, for this stickiness would attach itself to the figure until it was fully out from the walls. This body of a male lightly bumped into the barriers before he started to float aimlessly around -- that is, until he felt the presence of someone living by him. The body looked very battered, with dark-colored blood stains all over the clothing, and the head was slightly bowed. Kyle didn't want to look at the face otherwise. She whimpered loudly when the figure took a small dive at the girl; throwing his arms out -- trying to grab at her. She managed to move out of the way in time, but that didn't stop the ghostly zombie from coming after her. Kyle quickly got up and started to run down the dim tunnels of the station, with the figure floating aimlessly in pursuit.

"Round and round they go..." Kyle didn't stop running through the tunnels when more of them emerged from the walls and began the same following. "Remembrance is nothing to no one here..." The room started to deteriorate; the walls became stained with blood, and with each passing step the girl made now, she left bloody footprints in the ground. Kyle screamed when two of the ghosts threw out their arms in an attempt to grab at her chest. She didn't stop crying as she shoved through them and kept running; looking for a way out. "Want that heart..." Kyle didn't want to look back as she continued to run. "The heart..." She gasped when she accidentally tripped on her own tired feet. When she was about to throw her body down in defeat, her eyes suddenly caught sight of a wooden door in front of her. The door itself was starting to decompose with the area around. Kyle quickly looked over her shoulder to see the mass of the zombie ghouls trailing around, probably trying to feel her presence again. The girl didn't hesitate for one second, so she got up on her feet and darted for the door. As soon as her hand was on the knob, she swung open the door and flung her weight to the other side. She slammed the door behind with her foot. "Just stay out of here..."

Kyle felt a little relieved to see she was in that long, narrow hallway full of those doors once more, but still in great fear that she might never find the way out of this place. Her body shook badly and she breathed heavily as she began to walk down the hall once more. Her hair was all over her face, and even her blouse looked as if it didn't want to stay clinging to her shirt underneath anymore. She was tired, and just wanted out of here.

Then... Kyle caught sight of another door that the number on it meant something to her: the fifth -- as in the number 5. Unlike most people who say that the lucky number is 7, Kyle thinks that the number 5 is lucky to her and her alone. In her lifetime thus far, she always found that number to be part of her life for odd reasons. She put a shaky hand on the knob and just opened the door. She figured that whatever was on the other side could not be more worse than what she had encountered before.

Well... it isn't bad to what she found on the other side, but it wasn't a way out. On the other side of this door... was nothing; nothing at all, but a room that was entirely all black. Kyle blinked and stepped into this pitch-black room, and wondered why something like this would be here. "Just where the hell am I?" Kyle whispered worriedly to herself as her eyes slowly gazed around the room to see if she could find anything that would be useful to her. Useful in trying to get out of this place. She sighed softly and depressingly when there was nothing in this room for her, but as she was turning around to leave the area, someone got in her way. Kyle's eyes widened and took a few steps back as this tall, dark figure stood to the side of the door, and smiled menacingly down on the poor girl. An image of him shot back into her head; she remembers him now. The same figure that was grabbing for her. The same figure that wore the heavy leather coat which would flow like a cape, and had the many chains latched onto his clothing and such. The very same.

"Why don't you stay a little longer..." said the figure with a slight purr in his voice, and he gently shut the door. Kyle walked backwards a few from the evil looking creature. "I would love the company right now..." A small candle appeared in his hand and lighted all on its own. He let the little object float in midair, and than he turned back down to the frightened girl. "I can feel the fear from yourself..." he groaned slightly and approached the young woman slowly. Kyle gasped and began to back away from him.

"Who... who are you?" Kyle whispered frighteningly to her stranger, and at that moment, her body had backed into a very large, soft object. She looked over her shoulder to see an immense, dark bed with small candles circling it. How did a bed suddenly appear? Did he do this? The dark figure pinned her to the bed and ran a hand lightly over her cheek.

"So rude of me to not have introduced myself to you... my name... is Nightmare..." Kyle screamed when Nightmare roughly took the blouse off her. Than he pushed her down into the bed and gently climbed on top of her. "How can that Myotismon love some human like yourself?..." Kyle began to whimper frighteningly, and when she tried to thrash her way out, Nightmare only pinned her down harder. Ever so lightly, he placed his lips onto the young woman's, but as soon as she felt this, she got the strength to slide away from him. Unfortunately, she was still trapped by the headboard behind her. Kyle started to whimper more and tears were now streaming down her face, as a twisted smile formed on Nightmare's mouth. He never took his eyes off her as he slowly crawled over to the girl; unbuttoning his leather coat too. She closed her eyes and little pitiful cries escaped her mouth when Nightmare's own lineaments came close to hers. He chuckled nastily as he licked his lips and kissed Kyle hard. She wanted to scream. She wanted to breakdown and cry, but the creature had her mouth possessed with his.

When he finally released his kiss, Kyle began to cry and she looked away from Nightmare. He cocked his head in slight disappointment. "You don't like my kisses?..." he cooed, and than he let his hands trail down the side of her body. Nightmare than snickered as he pushed the poor girl down into the bed once again, but this time, he pinned her wrists with one hand while the other was free to do whatever.

When he got on top of her, Kyle cried out in a high shriek, "No! No! Help me! Don't touch me! Let me go! No!" Nightmare merely laughed to these cries of help and pleading, but than he locked his lips with hers again. Afterwards, he kept chuckling as he ran his tongue over her neck. "Please don't..."

Nightmare propped himself to the side, but still overlooked the girl and had her wrists pinned with one hand also. He moaned slightly before speaking, "My dear... but I love to hurt people, whether which way possible..." Kyle whimpered when she saw an odd gleam in those red-piercing eyes of his. As her head was turned, she knew the creature had removed his coat from the hard sounds of it falling to the floor, and the rattling of the chains with it. He grabbed her face roughly so he could force her to look at him. "In dreams -- no, their nightmares, those humans cannot feel the pain nor the guilty pleasures I can do on them... it's only in their minds, after all..." Kyle began to squirm when she saw Nightmare's nails became longer and look sharp to the eye. "But you are not dreaming..." The girl did not like the cruelty that suddenly lied in his eyes. "I stole you from the ones you loved. It is so much different than sleeping. You can feel everything that's happening to you right now..." Those pitiful squeals came from her mouth once more as Nightmare lifted her shirt halfway, and than traced a nail over her stomach. "People cannot die in dreams nor feel the pain, and no matter how much they may want death in a dream, it will never come to them... however..." he got on top of her again and than leaned down to kiss the top of her gut gently. "You can feel this pain as if it was real... I want to know how much I can hurt you before you'll want death to come, but it will never come. I want to hear you crying for this darkness..."

Kyle gasped as Nightmare raised his hand full of long sharp nails, ready to pierce her skin. "I want to hurt you before I'll even get close to seducing that body..." The girl began to thrash wildly; more aggressively than before, which really made the creature get caught off guard, for he didn't know a girl like her have strength like that. Without warning, Kyle kicked his jaw, and as the creature cried angrily in some pain, she tumbled to the floor and ran out of the room.

Kyle panted and heavily while her body shook badly from being touched like that. She started to sob silently when she heard an evil laughter resound through the narrow hall of doors. "I will find you again, no matter where you go! You can never get out of here! You and all those souls belong to me now!" She grabbed her head and continued to sob as the laughter came about again; getting louder and louder as she cried harder.

"I want out of here!" Kyle cried out, and than she pounded her fists to the hard floor. "Help me..."

Suddenly, I slowly walked up to her and lightly put a hand on hers. The girl gasped a little when she looked into my face. She kept breathing heavily as her eyes slowly shifted to the bracelets on my wrists. "I can show you the way out..." I whispered to her, and than I tried all my best to help her off the floor.

"Wha?..." Kyle looked down on me oddly, but somehow, there was no expressions of fear. "Are you a digimon?"

I just took her hand and led her down the endless hall of doors. "Yes... you can say that," I answered softly, and than I kept glancing at the numbers on the doors until I found the right one. The one that would lead her out of this madness... for now. "This is the door. It is the one you want." Kyle looked at the brass number '7' on the door, and than glanced down on me. She raised an eyebrow in slight suspicion.

"Why the number 7?" She asked curiously. "What is so special about it that will lead me out?"

I smiled at her, "Why... didn't you always consider the number 7 to be unlucky to you? Nightmare knew you would go into a door of 5. If you consider something bad -- in this world, it might not be as unlucky as you thought it would be..." I put my claws on the doorknob and slowly opened it for her. Kyle looked very relieved to see that on the other side of this door, was a view of a city with tall, tall buildings everywhere.

"Where... does this go?" Kyle asked, looking down on me once more.

I shrugged, "In this world... it can be anywhere it wants to be. I suggest you leave now before Nightmare gets his second wind of everything. You do not want him to catch you. You've seen what he did to the others..."

Kyle's eyes grew wide, "What did I see?..." Unfortunate to her, I did not answer, but merely and lightly, pushed her out the door. When she turned around I slammed the door, and it vanished as quickly as she got out there.

"You must hide. You must stay away from him..."

Kyle blinked and gazed around the city surroundings. "Just what is going on here?" She turned around once more to see if she could go back through the door and into that hallway again, but there was no sign of a wooden door nor an infinite hall. There was nothing but buildings and streets from what the eyes can see. "Just where am I?"

Nightmare sat on the edge of the bed and slipped his arms through his leather coat, and began to button it up slowly. Just as he was finishing with a few buttons, Daemon came into the odd room and stood a foot from the creature sitting on the bed. Daemon's eyes narrowed at Nightmare somewhat angrily. "Just what were you doing, when we still have much to do?" Daemon asked calmly.

Nightmare chuckled quietly as he slicked back his hair. "I was just trying to have a little fun with that human girl of Lord Myotismon..." he touched his lip and saw a small splotch of blood on his finger tips. "Mmm... she made me bleed..." he moaned slightly. "I want to keep her for myself. After I'm through in having my ways with the girl, than I'll put her with the rest of them. They can have their way then..." He chuckled a little more as he pictured ways of making people suffer.

Daemon grunted angrily and crossed his arms. "This is not the time to be fooling around with mere mortals. Myotismon is here with the digidestined, Nightmare. What do you plan on doing about that?..." He raised an eye as Nightmare just sat there in thought.

He looked up at Daemon and grinned evilly, "Why do you worry about that vampire, Daemon? He has no power here. This is the dream world, where I can do whatever I want! Unfortunately though, I don't rule the dream part of it just yet..." Daemon still did not look reassured. "Myotismon has already been taken care of, for as far as we know. I'm sure he'll learn to love that other woman, and than he can forget all about the 'unattractive' one. Otherwise... Melissa would be of no use..."

Daemon gazed around the room before he glared back at Nightmare. "You should not underestimate Lord Myotismon, nor the power of the digidestined! I have done the same, and now look as to what has become of me!"

Right when Daemon had said that, Nightmare suddenly stood on his two feet and pointed a threatening finger in the demon's face. "Don't you ever think that this life is a burden for you! You are immortal Daemon. Once we acquire enough human souls, we can both become living on the earth realm..."

Daemon sighed, "Than may I suggest that we do something about Lord Myotismon? What if he doesn't want to go back with this Melissa? What if he doesn't fall in love with her?"

Nightmare thought for a moment, but than a smile cracked on the edge of his lips. "Than maybe I should find a way to make that other human girl... want to stay..."

"What about those other two digimon?"

"Who?"

"Wizardmon and... the other one? What if they find Myotismon -- or even that Queen?"

"We'll just have to put out more men then. I cannot let them interfere with our plans! We are too close to accomplishing our goal!"

Author's Note: I'm so sorry that Myo or any of the digidestined weren't in this chapter, but this part of the story was supposed to be in the last chapter; I'm trying not to make chapters too lenghty, so now this bit has its own chapter. Oh yes... and I'm sorry AthEna, but there is no shirtless Myo in the chapter, but I promise he will have one!

I know... who is this "I" person that is speaking/ narrating this story, but don't worry; the truth of he/she will be answered... either in the next chapter or two. Here's a hint though: mentioned in a previous chapter of "In The End": part digimon... and something else.