It was black; there would be no other way to say it. Black and cold. Ice prodding at your skin, your lungs frozen still. All breath escaped. The pair of red eyes, yes that is what I remember the most. Red, beady eyes. They didn't belong to any human, but to something else. They charged and I awoke.
Ichigo gasped and sprang from his sleep. He breathed deeply, grateful for the sudden supply of air. The same nightmare had been attacking him for the past 3 days.
The window was open wide and the chilling air brought his breath into fog. It was strange for winter to be coming so soon. Ichigo stood from his bed looked outside. He couldn't quite remember if he had ever opened the window or not. A strange feeling flew through the air around him. He strace the feeling to a raven that sat on the house across from him. It's jet black feathers reflected the lights on the street and it's eyes… they glowed. "A trick of the light." He said brushing off the feeling and closing the window.
The morning brought back the usual early fall weather. It showed no relation to the cold weather from the night before. Bright rays from the sun shot into Ichigo's eyes as he walked to school. It reminded him that it was morning. He yawned and took a right along the side walk towards the park.
There was a long tan wall that bordered the edge of the park. Many birds where perched on it, most of them crows. They seemed to be preparing for the winter. Still rather soon for winter, Ichigo thought to himself. A few of the birds called with their scratchy voices and flew as Ichigo marched closer. Most of the flock disappeared from view and only one remained on the thick wall. As Ichigo looked up at it, he couldn't help but notice it scowling, if that is even possible for a bird. He returned the glare. There was a strange familitary with the bird. What are the chances that is was the same bird as last night?
"Ichigo!" Keigo called from behind. Ichigo turned around and watched Keigo running up to him, waving his arms violently. He swung one of his arms around Ichigo and nearly dragged him to the ground. "Hey! Get off me." Ichigo regained his balance and watched the bird fly away.
"What are you looking at?" Keigo shifted his position so he could get a better view at the wall but saw nothing. "What did you get on the test?"
"Uh… an 85."
Keigo released his arm and they began to walk towards the school. "I got a 76!" He said proudly.
"Don't you call me a devil whenever I get anything over a 75?"
"But, my parents threatened to take away my playstation! Besides, they said they'd get me a new game if I got over 70."
Ichigo scoffed. "Threatened to take away your games?"
"A bunch of my friends are meeting for a movie tonight. Where going to see going to see 'Phantom City'" He said in a low creepy tone. He moved his hands around like a ghost to match his voice.
Ichigo looked down at Keigo to display his lack of interest. "Again?" He said.
"You haven't even seen it once! You have to come, or do you need to do your homework?"
"Fine." Ichigo didn't know about how much homework he would have but Keigo had been trying to make him go to the movies for the past 3 weeks.
"Good were all meeting at the park gait."
"why there?" Ichigo looked back. They where quite a ways from the park now but the uneasy feeling he got again from the crow wouldn't go away.
"Because, it's the closest between our houses."
Ichigo nodded as they came up to the front of the school.
"I'm home."
"Hey!" A voice called from the kitchen. "What should we have for dinner?" Ichigo walked into the open dining room where you could see the most of the kitchen. Yuzu was already pulling ingredients from the pantry. "Were having dinner early today."
"That's fine with me. I'm going to a movie with Keigo."
"Ok. Dad is a little busy today. So it will just be you, me and Karin."
"Why what's wrong?" Ichigo sat down at the table as Yuzu talked.
"I'm not sure." Yuzu threw together a whole bunch of spices that looked like the makings of soup. "Some guy went crazy and then collapsed. I guess they just walked through the front of the clinic."
"Again? Why don't they go to the hospital?"
"I think, because it was close by."
Ichigo tried to think everything through but he wasn't quite sure what he was looking for. The crow, the extremely cold nights, and people freaking out before collapsing suddenly. It was all very strange.
The night actually started out warm. It hardly showed any difference from the temperatures during the day. So he left without a jacket.
Japan is humid. You would be surprised how much heat a little bit of moisture can hold. Even in the night there seems to be no difference in temperature. But as the park came into view, Ichigo couldn't help but notice the sudden drop.
The icy air stabbed at his throat. He couldn't help but feel a similarity to his recent dreams. "Keigo!" He called as he finally reached the gate. His voice didn't seem to reach very far despite how loud he called. It was as if the sound was freezing in his tracks. It can't be this cold, he convinced himself.
A bird called from the top of the wall. It's screeching voice was certainly unpleasant in the current atmosphere. Ichigo couldn't help but look up. The black bird sat there again, like it had this morning. This time it showed off its proud figure. "Go Away!" Ichigo said, trying to resist throwing a rock at it.
Caw! It said one last time before it flew up to a lamp post. The atmosphere felt a little less cooler with the bird gone but Ichigo could still feel his arms numb.
Why he was still standing at the wall, waiting for his friend, he did not know. Ichigo had promised to be there. Every time he thought about leaving there was another voice interrupting his thoughts. It said "just a little longer."
"Anyone there?" Ichigo looked over to the other side of the wall. He though he heard a branch snap from behind the trees. "Hey! Keigo!" He called again. There was emptiness. "Damn it I'm hearing things." Ichigo turned to lean against the wall. He looked to his left and a large shadow of Keigo rised over him. An arm suddenly swung out into his jaw.
"Keigo?" Ichigo was pulled up by his shirt and lifted high. He saw a new strength in Keigo he never knew existed. Now struggling for air, Ichigo made an effort to fight back. He loosened Keigo's grip and grabbed Keigo by the arm, twisting it in an odd direction, but being careful not to hurt him. "What the hell are you doing?"
Ichigo lost his grip and suddenly found himself on the ground again. His head slammed against the wall. Keigo stood over him; readying his arm for a second hit, but Ichigo looked passed him at the crow that remained on the light post. Danm Crow He dodged Keigo's fist and sneaked up from behind. He restrained him by the neck and locked his arms. At first Keigo struggled but soon gave up. He hardly put of much of a fight at ll.
His friend's strength dulled as he suddenly relaxed into Ichigo's grip. Had he fallen unconscious? Ichigo was sure that he wasn't holding him that tight.
"Some guy went crazy and collapsed." Yuzu had said. He pulled Keigo up over his back and began to struggle his way down the street. His muscles had a problem moving from the numbing temperatures. But it steadily seemed to be getting warmer at least. He looked back at the empty lamp post. The bird was long gone.
Yay it's longer! I took way too much time to write this .' Ichigo is so hard to write! I am like the complete oposite of him so I have a really hard time with him. lol I'll probably OOC him just a little to make it easier on me. I planned on writing this with all the characters perfect to how they are in the book but I never knew that would be so hard!
Anyway, kinda odd chapter. I'm not used to writing like this so it might be a little confusing but I'll clear some things up in the next chapter. Dont ask me why I chose a crow to be the freaky haunting creature thing. I'm not sure they're even native to Japan, not that it really matters. But for some reason I have this whole dark side image for Crows.
So hope you like it so far. Review please!