So I'm back again for Chapter 2! I'm not sure how long my willpower for this story will last, but the more reviews I get the more I'll want to continue writing... Also, if you haven't read the story I mentioned in Chapter 1, you may want to do so. I don't think the story is so complicated that you'd get that lost, but it's better to have the background knowledge.

...

It felt like he was honestly drowning. In what, the informant was not sure. Blood. Rain. The ocean. Lava. He couldn't tell and it didn't matter. All that he knew was he was incapable of breathing. The scent of cigarettes was forever engraved in his mind, symbolizing the man who he loved and feared all the same.

Shiki.

Fear struck through him, his palms getting sweaty. At least he could feel he thought. His heart beating faster as he remembered the way they had kissed. The way Shiki's voice confessed his love for Izaya. His gentle touch, drying the tears from his soft, flushed cheeks.

But even more prominent was the memory of the man cutting off his climax, dousing him in pain like being thrown into a pool of freezing water. How he had allowed all of his subordinates to use him and his body as they pleased. And he just sat there and watched. It had turned him on though. The yakuza leader loved watching him like that. Tears ran down the informant's face. The pain. Oh, how he had truly believed him. The raven was definitely an idiot. He knew it but couldn't bear to leave him for good. Shiki had gotten off on his screams of pain, no longer was lust and pleasure able to satiate his need. This man had been abusing him for months, and yet Izaya always came back with a want for more, even as he ran himself further into the ground. He was pathetic. He had just wanted attention. It didn't matter who it was from. He had been so desperate. Sadness collected again in the pit of his stomach.

He still was.

Silent sobs wracked his frail body as he cried. Shiki, in the end, had abandoned him again. Left him in the darkness. He had begged for him to stay. Unable to get up, as his vision grew more hazy. He had tried to crawl but couldn't, his strength leaving his body just as Shiki had left him in the warehouse. His gaze had been so cruel, so hard, sadistic.

But Shiki still loved him.

It was this that had kept him in this state of consciousness. This was why he could breathe underwater. This is why he clutched so dearly to the string holding him together, keeping him sane. Because he couldn't die yet. Not without seeing Shiki again. Not without playing their new game.

What was it called again? Hide and seek... But not just any version like what you'd play in grade school. One with blood, horrifying images, adrenaline now coursed its way through his veins. His body shivered as he remembered.

He had killed a man. An innocent man who had a life ahead of him. His face haunted his dreams. Asked him, "Why? Why would you kill me? I thought we had made a deal?" Izaya was a killer now, he'd probably be known for this for the rest of history. That and as Shiki's personal dog.

Except Izaya hated it even more when this man, the cop, faced him with a look of pity, of empathy. That silent gaze asking why he still gambled his life for a man who had marred his pride and body, butchering him like he was to be fed to hounds. That look wondering why the informant allowed the older man to degrade him in so many ways. To lower him to something less than a human being. A toy. Why did he do that?

Even the raven couldn't answer such a question.

Suddenly, Izaya was aware of voices. They sounded fuzzy, as if they were far away. But it was comforting. It reminded him... that he wasn't alone? He wasn't alone? Here, in this darkness, was there someone else with him? His mahogany eyes filled with water again. Maybe he could see Shiki again. This time he'd make him understand that Izaya really did love him. He didn't care anymore how low he had to go, or what he had to become, to make him realize that.

And yet, what if he couldn't do it? Horror touched his soul, tainting him. His mind turning even darker by the idea. He was haunted again by the remembrance of Shiki's sick amusement. Their laughter. The knowing smirks and sneers shot across the room. Deep humiliation and mortification as he was taken again and again, crying but not daring to cry out for help. Spasming in pain as blood ran down his skin. Being ripped and torn open, mentally and physically only to be devoured like food on a platter afterwards.

There was truly no hope for him. He needed to let go now; it was exhausting him to hold on for so long. His petty attempt to stay alive was in vain. Tears streamed down the raven's pale, broken face as he felt dehumanized even more by his mind's portrayal of what had happened and what was to come. Except there was nothing to come. It was all over now.

One last tear ran astray as he closed his eyes, accepting the darkness.