Shaky eyes fluttered open, finding only pitch black darkness in greeting.
The air was stale and humid. It smelled like earth and as he became more
aware of his surroundings, panic gripped his heart.
-No. Please, not this. I can't stand this.-
The closed in wooden box didn't allow enough space for him to turn his head, or raise his arms from his chest. He felt weak and it was that feeling that stopped the screams in his throat from rising to his lips and voicing themselves. Not that anyone would hear.
Ruthlessly, the memories stirred in his mind, waiting. Weakened as he was from his Master's feeding, he could no longer keep up the barriers that created the complex balance of his mind. Like waves, they came tumbling out, spilling one after another. It was dangerous, it was folly, but unwilled, a thought pulled itself from the tidal and came into the sharp focus of a dream.
/"So, you've come back, boy."
"My name is Hisoka!"
With a smile, the tall man moved from his post at the door frame, walking towards the fiery youth as if he was receiving an expected friend. Of course, he had known, sooner or later, the boy would return. The sight of him stirred the hunger, a tightening of muscles that nearly made him grind his teeth in need. The scent, the very feel of his energy on the air was invigorating, more so than it had ever been with any other mortal before. He was a sensitive, Tsuzuki didn't doubt, but it went further than that. Someone that full of passion would seek out satisfaction from mystery. Even with the gift clouding the youth's mind as it was, he wasn't surprised that he had recovered enough to find him. Not that he would admit, even to himself, that he hadn't really tried to erase this young ones memories of that night.
He stopped a few paces from him, watching him with a calm demeanor.
"You've come again to my home. To what do I owe the honor?"
"You know perfectly well why I'm here!"
"Do you think I can read minds, boy?"
Of course, he could. But respect kept him from brushing aside the feeble curtain covering his thoughts. It would spoil the dance to ruin all mystery this early into it. The hunt was always more enjoyable than feeding. He could wait. The fact that he would taste him soon enough was thrilling.
"Damn you! You don't even try to deny I was here before, do you?" "Why should I? Was it a crime to return a fever struck boy to his home? Or are you angry because I -did- return you?"
Striking his arm out to the side, Hisoka closed the distance between them, anger evident on his attractive features. "You. you aren't natural! You don't belong here!"
Tsuzuki rethought his judgment to the boy being -highly- sensitive. And that could make him dangerous. These thoughts did not show, as the taller man flashed the youth a small, extending a hand as an invite. "Why don't you come inside?"/
-No, stop it! Stop! Damn you!-
Even though the layers of thick earth, he could hear the mocking laughter. "So, Tsuzuki. It's the young boy that's caught your interest. The Master was sure it was the copper haired girl. Shall we see more? I think you need to see more."
The thoughts became heavy, closer to the surface and deeper all at once.
/It wasn't until I saw my home as he did that a simple fact made a painful homecoming. It was more like the last resting place of a forlorn nightmare, than the monument of time it had once been.
When reflected in his disdainful emerald eyes, I saw all that was missing in my world, saw the haunt I had let myself become. -It wasn't always this way, my life, my home, this place. It was once filled with laughter. You must believe me, though I hardly believe it, anymore.-
"Do you live here by yourself?"
-Always lonely, but never alone.- I thought to myself, pausing as he had, to regard the question. My fingers left a trail against the dust on the banister of the stairs. -How long had it been, since I last stirred? How long had I slept, until, like an insect against a web, I felt him intrude on my seclusion?-
"I have company, from time to time. Mostly I keep to myself. The world has a way of moving around the naive."
He scoffed, looking away from me. "You don't seem naïve to me. You have a simple look and manner to you, but what I sense isn't so straightforward."
"I thought you said you sensed nothing from me." I mused with a hint of humor. "Doesn't get more straightforward than that."
"Even a fool has emotions." He countered without missing a beat. I loved it. "That means your blocking me out. A straightforward person wouldn't have things to hide, as you seem so desperate to do. It's your silence that condemns you."
I nodded my head, not in agreement, but in acknowledgement. I didn't know what he wanted from me, but I knew very well what I wished from him. The repartee of the living was something I had forgotten and the thrill of playing such a game was invigorating. Dangerous, I knew it then. As soon as I saw him as more than food, it was inviting doom. Keeping such a soul around wasn't wise, I knew, -knew- it would attract attention. But the sins of desire can only be killed by satisfaction.
//Tsuzuki//
"Tell me something, Hisoka. Do you hate me?"
The question caught the youth off guard. He recovered almost at once, but not before the cool mask of composure slipped enough to show uncertainty. "Fool. I don't care either way. If I hated you, it would be feeling something. As it is, other people's emotions flow into me against my will and from you, there is nothing."
"Can't you decide your emotions over something for yourself? Or do you always just take what you are given?"
"I was never given a choice. My entire life, I've always invoked powerful feelings from those around me. Before I even understood my own emotions, I was flooded with the prejudice sentiments of others."/
//Tsuzuki!//
His brow furled, a thin cough tugging on his lungs as he became aware of himself again.
//Watari? Is that you?//
//Finally! Yes, it's me! Where are you?//
//In the crypt.//
//Really? I didn't even know that chamber was still open. Listen, did Oriya do anything to you?//
-Oriya?- His eyes cracked open. //Oriya was here?//
There was a pause.
//God, the Master really did a number on you. Oriya just came from the crypts. I happened to bump into him on my way from the Master's chambers. I didn't get much, but from what I could gleam, he had images of Bon in his mind.// Even in thought speech, Tsuzuki could feel Watari's fear and dread, mingling with his own. Oriya, the Master's most loyal servant and most powerfully gifted with the Mind. //Why does Oriya have information about Bon?//
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The young man pushed off the covers, swinging his legs over the side of his bed with a sigh. Tonight was one of those spring evenings were it was too warm to be comfortable and it left him feeling restless.
-Maybe a walk would ease my mind.-
It was an odd mood to be sure. Usually, he was able to write off such things and sit in a stupor until it was time to "escape" again. It took extremes of emotion to stir him to action that was just his way. But tonight was different. Tonight, it felt like the stars where holding their breath.
Glancing out his window, he rose to his feet, slipping them into the wooden sandals at his bedside.
-A red moon.-
-No. Please, not this. I can't stand this.-
The closed in wooden box didn't allow enough space for him to turn his head, or raise his arms from his chest. He felt weak and it was that feeling that stopped the screams in his throat from rising to his lips and voicing themselves. Not that anyone would hear.
Ruthlessly, the memories stirred in his mind, waiting. Weakened as he was from his Master's feeding, he could no longer keep up the barriers that created the complex balance of his mind. Like waves, they came tumbling out, spilling one after another. It was dangerous, it was folly, but unwilled, a thought pulled itself from the tidal and came into the sharp focus of a dream.
/"So, you've come back, boy."
"My name is Hisoka!"
With a smile, the tall man moved from his post at the door frame, walking towards the fiery youth as if he was receiving an expected friend. Of course, he had known, sooner or later, the boy would return. The sight of him stirred the hunger, a tightening of muscles that nearly made him grind his teeth in need. The scent, the very feel of his energy on the air was invigorating, more so than it had ever been with any other mortal before. He was a sensitive, Tsuzuki didn't doubt, but it went further than that. Someone that full of passion would seek out satisfaction from mystery. Even with the gift clouding the youth's mind as it was, he wasn't surprised that he had recovered enough to find him. Not that he would admit, even to himself, that he hadn't really tried to erase this young ones memories of that night.
He stopped a few paces from him, watching him with a calm demeanor.
"You've come again to my home. To what do I owe the honor?"
"You know perfectly well why I'm here!"
"Do you think I can read minds, boy?"
Of course, he could. But respect kept him from brushing aside the feeble curtain covering his thoughts. It would spoil the dance to ruin all mystery this early into it. The hunt was always more enjoyable than feeding. He could wait. The fact that he would taste him soon enough was thrilling.
"Damn you! You don't even try to deny I was here before, do you?" "Why should I? Was it a crime to return a fever struck boy to his home? Or are you angry because I -did- return you?"
Striking his arm out to the side, Hisoka closed the distance between them, anger evident on his attractive features. "You. you aren't natural! You don't belong here!"
Tsuzuki rethought his judgment to the boy being -highly- sensitive. And that could make him dangerous. These thoughts did not show, as the taller man flashed the youth a small, extending a hand as an invite. "Why don't you come inside?"/
-No, stop it! Stop! Damn you!-
Even though the layers of thick earth, he could hear the mocking laughter. "So, Tsuzuki. It's the young boy that's caught your interest. The Master was sure it was the copper haired girl. Shall we see more? I think you need to see more."
The thoughts became heavy, closer to the surface and deeper all at once.
/It wasn't until I saw my home as he did that a simple fact made a painful homecoming. It was more like the last resting place of a forlorn nightmare, than the monument of time it had once been.
When reflected in his disdainful emerald eyes, I saw all that was missing in my world, saw the haunt I had let myself become. -It wasn't always this way, my life, my home, this place. It was once filled with laughter. You must believe me, though I hardly believe it, anymore.-
"Do you live here by yourself?"
-Always lonely, but never alone.- I thought to myself, pausing as he had, to regard the question. My fingers left a trail against the dust on the banister of the stairs. -How long had it been, since I last stirred? How long had I slept, until, like an insect against a web, I felt him intrude on my seclusion?-
"I have company, from time to time. Mostly I keep to myself. The world has a way of moving around the naive."
He scoffed, looking away from me. "You don't seem naïve to me. You have a simple look and manner to you, but what I sense isn't so straightforward."
"I thought you said you sensed nothing from me." I mused with a hint of humor. "Doesn't get more straightforward than that."
"Even a fool has emotions." He countered without missing a beat. I loved it. "That means your blocking me out. A straightforward person wouldn't have things to hide, as you seem so desperate to do. It's your silence that condemns you."
I nodded my head, not in agreement, but in acknowledgement. I didn't know what he wanted from me, but I knew very well what I wished from him. The repartee of the living was something I had forgotten and the thrill of playing such a game was invigorating. Dangerous, I knew it then. As soon as I saw him as more than food, it was inviting doom. Keeping such a soul around wasn't wise, I knew, -knew- it would attract attention. But the sins of desire can only be killed by satisfaction.
//Tsuzuki//
"Tell me something, Hisoka. Do you hate me?"
The question caught the youth off guard. He recovered almost at once, but not before the cool mask of composure slipped enough to show uncertainty. "Fool. I don't care either way. If I hated you, it would be feeling something. As it is, other people's emotions flow into me against my will and from you, there is nothing."
"Can't you decide your emotions over something for yourself? Or do you always just take what you are given?"
"I was never given a choice. My entire life, I've always invoked powerful feelings from those around me. Before I even understood my own emotions, I was flooded with the prejudice sentiments of others."/
//Tsuzuki!//
His brow furled, a thin cough tugging on his lungs as he became aware of himself again.
//Watari? Is that you?//
//Finally! Yes, it's me! Where are you?//
//In the crypt.//
//Really? I didn't even know that chamber was still open. Listen, did Oriya do anything to you?//
-Oriya?- His eyes cracked open. //Oriya was here?//
There was a pause.
//God, the Master really did a number on you. Oriya just came from the crypts. I happened to bump into him on my way from the Master's chambers. I didn't get much, but from what I could gleam, he had images of Bon in his mind.// Even in thought speech, Tsuzuki could feel Watari's fear and dread, mingling with his own. Oriya, the Master's most loyal servant and most powerfully gifted with the Mind. //Why does Oriya have information about Bon?//
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The young man pushed off the covers, swinging his legs over the side of his bed with a sigh. Tonight was one of those spring evenings were it was too warm to be comfortable and it left him feeling restless.
-Maybe a walk would ease my mind.-
It was an odd mood to be sure. Usually, he was able to write off such things and sit in a stupor until it was time to "escape" again. It took extremes of emotion to stir him to action that was just his way. But tonight was different. Tonight, it felt like the stars where holding their breath.
Glancing out his window, he rose to his feet, slipping them into the wooden sandals at his bedside.
-A red moon.-