The black dog

Chapter 10

Mizore opened her eyes. She felt the soft blanket over her. Almost as if she was laying in her own bed, but this bed was bigger. The pillow was softer than she was used to. This was definitely not her bed. She rolled over onto her back and began to look around the room. The sight of the almost snow white and the icy blue walls left her with the memory of being with Souta. She wanted to sit up, but flinched as soon as she felt the pain across her shoulder and chest. At that moment Souta came in.

'Good you are awake. First take off your coat, we're not leaving until this afternoon

again.' He said. It was stern, but he meant well.

'But Nanami and Eijiro are waiting for us right?' She asked sleepily.

'They will keep waiting. Come take off your coat.'

With pain and effort, Mizore tried to take off her coat. As soon as her coat was off, Souta noticed the red stain on her T-shirt. He walked over to her and pulled her shirt aside from her neck. He saw the cut that went down from her shoulder.

For a moment, Souta waited. He had to ask her. She needed bandages to bandage the wound, it looked deep. Souta swallowed for a moment and then continued.

'Could I perhaps help you....to also take off your shirt and all? I want to put bandages on you because of your wound.'

Souta felt embarrassed to ask a girl something like that. Besides, he had never seen a girl of age without a shirt.

Mizore was silent for a moment. It took her a moment to realize what Souta was asking her to do. She knew it was necessary, but the idea that a boy would see her like this felt like a tingle through her body. She nodded slowly and let him take off her shirt and b*a. There was a silence that neither of them dared to break. Souta was concentrating on bandaging her wound properly. As soon as he was done, he let the gathered air escape into his mouth. The tense moment was over. Both had no idea what to say. Until Souta was back to his own thoughts.

'How did you get that wound? What happened?' He asked as kind as he could.

The question brought tears to Mizore's eyes. The very thought of having to recall her true nightmare. She put herself in front of a block which gave her enough of a push to tell what happened to her.

'I followed a white dot, it seemed to hypnotize me because I felt like I had no choice but to follow it. After a while it lingered, for quite a long time. I didn't realize where I was, when it moved again, I layed down, couldn't move anymore. The dot multiplied to three dots that started to form into doctors. I didn't know why at first, but I panicked. They looked at me and held me down.' Mizore bit her lip hard she didn't want to let tears through. She knew she needed to continue, even though everything in her told her to stop, she opened her mouth and with difficulty the last part of her story came out.

'The third doctor turned around and had a knife in his hand, his eyes became a glowing green and he had dog fangs for teeth, my panic only increased. He came closer and he cut me, I felt it really cut me. Only then could I scream. I didn't even realize I could move again, my shoulder and chest hurt so much.'

Unable to hold back her tears, she burst into tears and fell against Souta before he could even realize what she was doing. He didn't know what to do. Never before had someone fallen against him, crying. Unsure of what to do, he held her gently. Souta didn't know how to place his feelings with this. It felt strange, but not unpleasant. Mizore trusted him, it gave him a smile. He knew they had to move on, but in this condition, Mizore injured and such a bad experience there. He couldn't do that to her. Before he knew it, he had already asked her, even before he had thought it wouldn't be a good idea.

'Mizore, are you coming back to the building today? Or would you rather stay here?'

Mizore stopped crying and looked at him.

'I'd rather stay here, but please, go to the building, Nanami and Eijiro are waiting for us there.'

'I'm not going to leave you here alone.'

'Do you really care that much about me?'

Souta panicked at that question. Yes, he cared a lot about her, but she mustn't get the wrong signals.

'I just don't want anything to get messed up in my house, you don't even know how everything works here, so I can't even leave you alone.' His cold demeanor betrayed his true feelings to Mizore. She gave a small smile. As if she knew nothing, she gave a counter word to Souta. 

'Just go, trust me a little. If I stay here for a while, you won't have a choice.'

He had to agree with her and decided to go anyway. His cold demeanor was not entirely a lie. He always felt unsettled when he no longer had control over his own things.

'All right then I'll go, all you get to do here is make coffee for yourself. As for the rest, you stay away from everything. I don't want anything moved when I get back.'

'I promise. I'll stay away from everything and I'll only make coffee for myself if I feel like it.'

Being with her was beginning to feel too comfortable for him and he wanted to escape from it. His rush to leave grew stronger and he conveyed it to Mizore, who found his sudden l**t to go strange.

'I must go now, Nanami and Eijiro are waiting and I want this resolved quickly. You know the provisional rules now. Otherwise, go get some more sleep or I don't know what. Bye, see you later.' Souta said with all haste in him. He didn't recognize the feeling he was getting. It made him uncertain. He let go of her, pushed her off him, got up and walked quickly out of the room. Without her seeing, he gave an uncertain face; he had suppressed this long enough. Mizore looked after him with her head tilted back in her neck. She did not understand his sudden rush. She was left alone in his big bed and her last tears left her eyes. Souta, meanwhile, had grabbed his coat and gone outside, on his way to where Mizore was crying. He felt sorry for her. She had to go through a lot and he couldn't even do anything for her. And then that clinging of her to him. What was he supposed to do with that. Souta got the warm feeling of friendship inside. Mizore was a friend of his. He had never felt anything like that before. He satisfied his head with the idea that it was just friendship he was feeling now, anyway part of it was friendship. It had to be. Nor did he want more. He was convinced that he didn't feel more, even when the doubt started to come, he maintained this. His icy blue eyes fixed on the ground, he walked through the streets on his way to his destination. Souta's feelings were playing a game, but Souta had no desire to play along. For a moment he looked up. The sun was shining in his face.

'Don't play a game with me. I don't need your kind of games.' He said harshly. Turning his eyes back to the road, he saw the street coming where he needed to turn. His mind was so focused on his feelings that he had forgotten how fast he was actually walking.

'I hope Mizore sticks to the rules.' Souta suddenly thought to himself and turned to go towards Nanami and Eijiro. His worries were for nothing. Mizore knew how to behave when she was a guest somewhere. She had made herself a cup of coffee and had gotten back into bed. Souta's bed was lovely. It was even better than her own bed. Playing the game of feelings that Souta didn't feel like playing, Mizore was only too happy to play along.

'Souta is a good friend, I may just stay with him.' She started a conversation with her own thoughts. 'Wait. Why am I so happy to be allowed to stay with him. He's not that special, is he? Yet I feel so happy when I'm with him. And in that building....' Mizore thought back to when she walked down the narrow corridor with her injury. His name. That's the first thing she said when she could talk again. She wanted to take a sip of her coffee, but stopped right before her mouth. Her cup went down and she looked ahead with puzzled eyes.

'Surely it wouldn't.' She wondered. Souta was away, so she couldn't discuss anything with him. He was at the building with Nanami and Eijiro. His ice blue eyes touched Nanami's ocean blue ones.

'Hey, Souta!' Eijiro waved his arm wildly to make it clear where they were standing. Rolling his eyes, Souta headed towards them.

'I already saw you guys, waving wildly doesn't help when someone is already paying attention to you.' Said he in a bored voice. 'Why are you always looking for a fight. And where is Mizore?' Eijiro looked around to see if there was any sign of her. He had a soft spot for her. That sweet face asleep had really touched him.

'No need to look around either. Mizore is not with us. Besides she has no interest in you.'

Eijiro turned all red and went into protest.

'Don't be so pedantic, I have no interest in her. I was just worried yesterday.'

The moment he mentioned yesterday, his concern returned.

'Did she wake up yet?'

'Yes, but she didn't want to come. You have no idea what she went through.'

'Why, what happened?' 

'That's too long of a story to tell now.'

Nanami was silent; she was sorry that Mizore wasn't there. Now she had no one to talk to when the boys had another fight. She looked ahead and was lost in her thoughts of Mizore. She didn't really like her, but that didn't take away from the fact that she belonged to the team, even if probably temporarily. Eijiro and Souta had already walked to the entrance, arguing.

'Nanami! Are you coming?' Eijiro called to her.

Jolted out of her thoughts, she looked in their direction.

'I'm coming!' She called out.

In a small sprint, she made sure to catch up.

'Eijiro, why would you even ask about Mizore. You're an arrogant little fellow and you don't know her. So what are you up to.' Souta's words came hard, especially since they were true.

'I may be arrogant, of which I am very proud by the way, but I was worried. She's part of the team we have now.'

'I really can't stand you. You're arrogant, dumb and an obvious player around women. But.' For a moment, Souta stopped. He had to tell his discussion partner something friendly. He couldn't stand it. With great effort and almost his stomach contents rising, he said the kind word he felt obliged to say.

'Thank you for asking how she is doing.' He said clenshing his teeth together.

Horrified, he thought, but it had to be done. He had said it and that was enough for him. The stomach turning idea of saying something friendly back came to Eijiro as well.

'You're welcome.'

They looked at each other with an awestruck face. Namami shook her head with a smile on her face.

'It's a start.' She said with a wide smile.

With a sour face they looked at her. They both agreed that they would prefer to never do this again. No more being nice to each other. They preferred to start a discussion.

'Where is all this equipment of yours anyway?'

'Everywhere a little bit where we've been.'

'Anything to see if there are really souls here?'

Eijro looked back with a puzzled expression, as if he had never heard the term soul before.

'Um, yeah. That's what I bought all that stuff for too?'

'I don't trust that stuff for a second.'

'Then you don't need to be here either.' Gave Eijiro nonchalantly as an argument.

'And then definitely cede the credit to you. I don't think so.'

'I thought you didn't trust my equipment?'

'I don't, but I do trust my hearing. Not like you who would rather believe a piece of plastic than your own gut.'

Nanami was really starting to get fed up with the two's eternal arguing.

'Ow, please. Everyone on this team is important. Just stop talking about it and cooperate. That goes for both of you.'

Nanami pushed Souta and Eijiro aside and started walking in front. Souta and Eijiro looked at each other, shrugged and walked behind Nanami. Souta enjoyed having a discussion with Eijiro, but it didn't distract him from the thought of Mizore. She kept coming back to his mind.

'Strange form of friendship.' He thought.

All his feelings were playing up and he had no choice but to go along with it. Souta was silent and watched the ground slowly pass him by.

'Hey, Are you still there?' Eijiro gave him a shove. Souta looked his way, but his gaze indicated that he didn't want to be taken out of his thoughts. Thinking about Mizore was what he liked. The finest thoughts he ever had.

'Wow, well, sorry about that, didn't know I got a death stare for that?' said Eijiro. He couldn't resist the temptation to start a little discussion.

Mizore had completely lost her need for a TV, cell phone or MP3. She was laying extensively on the couch staring at the ceiling. There was only one person going through her mind: Souta. He wasn't that creepy. His smile was sweet, even if he was a bit arrogant at times. Or was it precisely his arrogance that attracted her. Mizore turned onto her side and closed her eyes. She was tired and all too eager to get some more sleep. She hoped for a good sleep so she could help out again tomorrow. She wondered what Souta would be doing now. She gave a smile at the thought of his name and fell asleep. Though this sleep was only short-lived. A dream shook her from her sleep. She saw the building flash by. Nanami, Souta and Eijiro walked through it, a shadow following them. They entered a room. 

'No! Don't go in!' She yelled, but they did not appear to hear her. All three walked on, behind them the door fell shut. Mizore ran towards it, the door seemed to get further and further away from her no matter how hard she ran. Panic slammed into her head. They are going to die, if they stay there they will die. Flames were in her eyes where at the same time her tears came out. Souta, she was going to lose him. Eijiro, Nanami, her new friends.

'I don't want to lose them. You can't!'

She stretched her hand out into the darkness where the door was getting smaller and smaller.

'Souta, no!' She cried out.

Her eyes were wide open, panting and sweating from what she just saw, she sat up straight.

'This can't just be a dream.' She said full of fear.

Tears rolled down her cheeks. She had no idea what to do. Everyone was there in that building and she was in Souta's house. Mizore layed down, rolled over and didn't stop herself from crying. She felt powerless against this situation. She knew that her dream would come true if she did nothing. She didn't even know where to go. She hadn't been paying attention to the road. She had enormous regrets about that now. If she had paid attention she could have gone to them now. She closed her eyes and let all her regrets come out. When Mizore opened her eyes again, she saw a bright spot in front of her.

'No, not again.' She thought.

For a moment she looked at it and immediately got the feeling that it was different. The dot didn't hypnotize her, it didn't feel negative.

'You don't want to hurt me do you? Not like....' The little point of light didn't answer her.

'Then I hope I make a good choice now.'

Mizore got off the couch and began to follow again. She grabbed her coat, put it on and ran out the door. 'If you want to show me where to go, be quick.' She said while panting under her running.

Mizore ran as fast as she could after the point of light that led her through the empty streets. The running made her wound hurt really badly, but her friends were important, but there was only one who was even more important to her. With everything she had in her, she wanted to prevent anything from happening to him. That was just not allowed. Without him, she really would have no one left. She had given up hope that she was wrong about her mother. She had been gone for three days and still no missing person's call. This only made the thought of losing Souta worse. With tears in her eyes, she tried to run even harder than she already did.

'Souta, hang in there, I'm coming. Please don't go into that room.' She thought and pulled the hardest sprint she could take.

Eijiro, Nanami and Souta had grabbed the camera, which Eijrio claimed would record paranormal activity.

'Well let's see if that thing of yours actually worked.' Souta said skeptically.

'I know it works, used it often enough you know.' Said Eijiro who tolerated no doubt about his work.

'Let's see. Eh.... Oops.'

'What. What is it.' Nanami asked.

'We can't watch it now. I forgot my laptop in the car.' He said with a difficult face.

'Why do I think that's something typical of you?' Souta asked in a sober tone.

'Ow, well sorry. I don't see you walking around with a laptop either. Besides, you say you can hear them. Who says it's not just in your head. You didn't strike me as being that smart.' Eijiro looked at him with a mean smile.

'Are you calling me crazy?'

'Maybe, maybe not.'

'Ow and what about Mizore? She can only see them, is she crazy too?'

'Mizore doesn't seem like much of an attention seeker to me. Unlike you.' Eijiro gave in reply.

'Guys, stop it. We have better things to do than to sit around arguing with each other.'

Without a word the boys agreed and walked on. Eijiro with his camera under his arm so they could watch the footage outside.

'Where is the rest of that stuff of yours?' Souta asked

'Almost everywhere. So it'll be a while to get it all back.'

'Great, I'm already itching for it.' Souta said sarcastically.

'Hey, if you do something, you have to do it right. That's what everyone says.'

'Yeah, but I don't really care for what "everyone" says.'

This response from Souta gave Eijiro tremendous frustration. To everything he said, Souta had to comment again. Discussing was fun, but commenting on everything? That just became irritating.

'Why are you so different! Behave like a normal person for once!' Eijiro yelled in all his irritation and frustration. Never before had Souta felt insulted. Yet, this time it hit him hard. He was being called not normal. It reminded him of his childhood at school. He heard the laughter around him that he had always heard. He remembered why he never had and never wanted friends. Controlled as always, to not show his true feelings, he replied to Eijiro's irritations. 

'I'm different because there are people who are just different from everyone else and I'm one of them. If you have a problem with that, that's your problem.'

Eijiro's frustration subsided when he saw Souta's concerned face.

'I think it would be good if we moved on. This place is not a nice place to discuss these things. They feed on it.' Nanami said to give Souta and Eijiro some distraction from each other.

'They? What do you mean by them.' Eijiro asked who was getting question marks in his head from it. Souta was still staring ahead, while Nanami explained to Eijiro what she meant.

'Hey, Souta? Now let's hold out for a little peace while we're in here.' Eijiro said.

'Eijiro, aren't you forgetting to say something to Souta?'

'Ow, um, yeah, sorry I called you not normal.' It could be heard that he said it reluctantly, but meant it.

'Um, yeah, okay, it's all right. Now let's go ahead and pick up those things of yours.' Souta said a little off his game.

When they passed a closed door Nanami remained standing.

'Eijiro, wasn't there something of yours in here too?'

'I don't remember that, we'll just have to go and look.'

Eijiro walked towards the door, but Souta quickly took over the so-called lead again as soon as he noticed Eijiro's tendency to take the lead. Souta was just about to grab the door handle when he suddenly heard his name.

'Souta! Souta, Don't!'

Souta turned around and saw Mizore coming towards him.

'Mizore?' Came out of his mouth in surprise. Not only he, but Nanami and Eijiro were very surprised to see her. How painful her shoulder and chest were, she ran the whole way from Souta's house to the old institute, following a small light and looking for Souta and the rest. Panting, she stopped running and stood next to Souta. 'Mizore, what are you doing here. You wanted to rest, right?' Souta asked, who still hadn't gotten rid of his surprise. 'Don't open that door. Please don't go in there.' Mizore struggled to get her words out. She had run so hard that her wound had opened up again and started bleeding. Her legs were shaking and she could no longer stand. She collapsed to the floor and repeated what she said earlier, 'That door, don't open it, please, don't go in.' Again, tears were in her eyes.

'Calm down, soon you will faint again because of that wound of yours. What's with that room, why can't we go in there.' Souta asked her soothingly. He didn't want to give her more panic because of the harsh way he can say things. Crying, Mizore told about her vision.

'Souta, I got a vision. If you go in there, you will die. There's something very wrong with that room. I don't know what, my gut tells me and so does my vision.'

'It's all right. We're not going in there. We'll leave the door closed.' For the first time, Souta was holding someone by himself. He was doing everything he could to calm Mizore. She needed the calm moment. He knew that.

'Maybe you won't go in, but if there's still equipment of mine in there, I want it back.'

Eijiro didn't let what Mizore said stop him.

'Eijiro, there's no equipment of yours in there.' Mizore said softly.

Exhausted from running and the calmness Souta gave her. Nanami heard from her voice that she was telling the truth. 'Eijiro, listen to Mizore. Just do it, she's not lying.' Nanami tried to persuade him not to go inside.

'Don't tell me what to do Nanami! I'll make up my own mind what I will and won't do! And I'm not going to be stopped just because someone here says I can't go in, who doesn't even know if I have things of mine here or not.' Eijiro snarled at anyone standing near him. For a moment Mizore saw Eijiro's eyes turn into the glowing green she saw earlier. Hiding against Souta she tried to say something to Eijiro, but it was too late. He grabbed the door handle and opened the door. As soon as the door was open and Eijiro released the latch, the door formed into a black hole. A great pull came from it and Eijiro was sucked in. All three at once cried out in terror. 'Eijiro!'

Nanami still reached for his hand to retrieve it, but she was too late. Afraid of being sucked in herself, she took a few steps back again. Strangely enough, the hole closed again after Eijiro was gone. The rest of the team looked at the door that had come back. They couldn't believe it. Eijiro was gone.