The Tormented

By Tat

Chap 2. Exit Stage

"Perception is merely reality filtered through the prism of your soul."

-Christopher A. Ray

OoO

His foot steps came to a halt and he raised his head, staring at the estate with beady eyes. Though no one had lived in it for fifty years or more it didn't appear to have any signs of abandonment. No boarded up or broken windows, or paint peeling off. All the house had to do was stand and you knew it was inhabitable. Riku's intuition stated the aforementioned obvious and yet he took a step closer.

Riku pushed the bad feeling he was getting as he came closer, he refused to think with his heart and become fueled by nonsensical fears.

His palm touched the door, noting the rotted wood and weak frame. He looked behind him, giving the city lights and the passing people a listless stare and he opened the door.

Black.

The faint stench of damp wood and must filled his nostrils and he blinked into the darkness. He turned on his flashlight, and the beam of light trailed around the room, giving notice to a fallen wood pillar and small holes in the floor. The light glinted off a mask made of dust covered gold. He moved deeper inside, oblivious to the figure eyeing him from behind.

Riku admitted that this would be the sort of place a horror movie would be set in and he couldn't completely blame Sora for shocking over his visit here. The atmosphere was irritating; the shadows were placed in convenient corners and played tricks on the eye. Some moments Riku would see the shadows take human shapes and look away, the moment he looked back the shadows were gone.

Slivers of light shone from the rafters, falling on a faded painting, the only thing distinguishable was a grayed mountainside. At his left was a cross hatched wooden room that resembled a cage. Maybe it was a cage, it was hard to tell from the ruin.

He stopped in front of a door, and on instinct he looked around him before grasping the handle. The door opened reluctantly and noisily, showing it's age and lack of wear. Before fully entering the room he shone the light ahead of him, it was bare except for a piece of paper on the floor. He closed the door behind him and picked up the paper.

Forget about me.

It read in familiar script. Riku tucked the paper in his pocket and continued down the hallway, reaching a dead end. He sighed, shaking his head and turned back, as soon as he turned his eyes widened.

"Sora. . .?"

The dark figure, its features very similar to his boyfriend's stalked off, passing through a door. Riku followed suit and the atmosphere changed, as if he had taken a few centuries back in time. Everything was grey- like an old movie reel and his footsteps echoed and crackled on the floorboards like a beat up cassette player.

He looked around in bewilderment, unsure of what to think about this sudden change, he felt like he had step through a faulty layer in time- reverting back to when this house was full of life- at least fragments of. It was familiar and at the same time, new. It was whimsical, and frightening, he sensed he shouldn't follow the shadowed figure that resembled his beloved for the air had a foreboding taste on his tongue.

Despite that he grasped the door knob and turned it effortlessly and swung open the door.

OoO

A/N: I'm really sorry for the wait. I meant to add more onto this but I've been distracted (so it's partly my fault) and life issues have added to the delay.