Early morning, January 12th..

The journey back to the inn was long. He kept his slow pace..just in case she wanted to follow him, head swiveling over his shoulders every so often. He couldn't see..it was too dark, and he wasn't really sure why he kept checking. That..defeated the purpose of leaving, didn't it..?

He shifted the kite box under his arm..the bags dangling from his right hand. Their handles bit into his palm and fingers. By the time he had reached the inn, though, and pushed his way inside, he couldn't feel it.

No one was here..he wasn't surprised. It was really late..or early. He was glad for it. The place would be quiet. It would give him time..to think.

He angled himself around the tables and chairs. The stairs groaned under him as he went up, the soles of his feet barely reacting to the wood. He'd stopped feeling them a while ago..

He scuffed his way down the hall to his room..and found the door slightly ajar. He blinked..a brow curving on his forehead. He'd..shut the door..right..? Maybe Katt was right..and he needed to start locking it..

He used the corner of the box to push the door in. The hinges squeaked once.. He ducked his head into the room..and his nose itched immediately with the smell of copper. He knew that smell.. The bags and the box dropped from his hands. He slapped and palmed the wall for the notch that would turn the lights on.

He was met with a gleaming sharp eye that looked like coral. The boy's shaggy white hair dripped over his other eye, but Toby figured..that it was the same color. He felt his body freeze, every muscle tensing into whip cord tightness. He..couldn't move.. And he didn't know if it was this boy's fault or his own.

He grunted..he knew this boy, though.. He had met him before..

"Hello, Toooooby. I told you I would be watching you. Didn't you believe me? No? That's too bad. Get in here so that you don't cause a scene, will you?"

It wasn't his own mind that made his legs move. They moved by themselves..slow, jerking steps that brought him over the threshold.

"Shut the door." His torso twisted, left hand moved..shoved at the edge of the door to close it with a slam. "Lock it." He did as he was told..without the ability to resist.

He realized..that he could still move his eyes. They fell on the bed. The boy was sitting there, his skinny legs folded indian-style beneath him. The white sheets were smeared with crimson. The boy's face split into an inhuman smirk.

The smell was blood..and Gizmo..had been left in this room.. Cold fear slithered into his veins like snakes.

"We need to have a little chat."

Hideo's player. Thanks!! ]

"Are you ready to tell me the truth?"

"I..have.."

"No." Toby's mouth dropped open..he yelled. He wanted to move.. He wanted..to break this kid's neck. He'd lost count..of how many cuts had been placed on him.. "You haven't. Do you know why I know why you haven't? Because I see you. And I see the way you look at things like this," the boy said..and pulled up what was left of the baby blue hoodie. It looked like..a huge cat had gone at it, stained all over with crimson. "And I saw the way you looked at her.."

"Kiss me, Toby."

He grunted..stared at the boy's face. His sharp features were the same..his hair, eyes.. But his voice..that wasn't his voice. He had sounded like..Mayu.. He hated..the burning in his cheeks.

"Why did you leave me outside, Toby..? It was cold.. so cold.."

"Stop..stop it.."

"You don't know how that made me feel, did you..? It hurt me," the boy said softly..still using the voice of his friend. "Maybe I shouldn't have given you this, what do you think?" There was tugging at his left wrist. Something snapped..the sound of beads clattering and rolling on the floor. Mayu's..bracelet..

"I mean, it was only something she forked over because you pouted like an idiot. Look at you, Toby.. bleeding red like you think you're like everyone else.. Bastards like you aren't supposed to bleed red." Toby grunted. He could feel the veins in his neck and arms bulge. But they weren't moving him anywhere.. The boy spun the pen blade between his skinny fingers. At least..he had stopped talking like Mayu..

He didn't know why..but he didn't feel scared like he had.. This boy seemed angry..about that time.

"You..want to protect her.." He had said as much..the last time they'd talked. But this went..beyond that.

The boy's head snapped around and he fixed Toby with his coral gaze. He hadn't seen an expression like it since..Lisa had been mad at him..

"I'm kidding myself in thinking that you'll listen to a word I say. I told you to not make any assumptions based on lack of evidence, but still-" Toby hissed out a breath..the boy had buried the pen knife in his stomach. "There you kneel doing just that. I'm surprised that you even have a thought process."

"AH!!" The boy had punched the heel of his hand against the blade's handle.

"You know, Toby. You've made me lose sight of what I came here to even tell you. But don't get me wrong, not all of this has been useless. Because it's given me a few ideas..

"Such as your special vial. You can look down." Toby's head dropped..his stomach churned when he saw his skin, the silver blade sticking out of his gut. He couldn't..pull it out. The boy traced the vial's outline and its chain..trailing blood around in patterns. His fingernails were stained black, Toby noticed.

"I told you to keep it close at hand.. but you've been squandering it. I don't want to see you using it ever again. At least not on yourself. Which means, these wounds here," the boy gripped a hold of the blade and, twisting it, yanked it out. Crimson flew into the air, splattered the floor and the boy's shoes. Toby screamed..shook. He couldn't lift his head. He watched..globs of red bubble out of the new hole in his skin. "Had better be there the next time I see you, otherwise-" The boy made a show of producing a folded square of yellow parchment..opening it under Toby's face. He recognized it.. The notes of his..

"Look at me. I want to see your face when I tell you this." Toby's head jerked up. The boy's face was inches from his own. He didn't..want to know..

"I will tell her what you are. I know she's the only one that doesn't know. And you know that that's the only reason to get her to stay with you. You don't want your little precious friend to know your true face."

"You can't..tell her.." He felt cold..goosebumps rose under the blood drying on him. "Don't-" His chest started buzzing like it was a limb that was just waking up after being asleep for a day.

The boy continued like he hadn't heard. "That purple, bulging, hulking, disgusting piece of shit you call a real body. That would no sooner open its maw and tear at her intestines until they hung like spaghetti from your teeth!"

His eyes burned. The boy's image swam around with moisture. His young, sharp face was twisted in an angry sneer. Beneath the shadows of his hair, his eyes were gleaming. They looked..like they were filled with blood.

"You think..I would hurt..her.."

"You have before, what's stopping you from doing it again? You might have no one to stab you in the chest next time. Face it, Toby, you are the physical embodiment of the monsters that plague her sleeping mind.."

His chest thudded and twisted once. He squeezed his eyes shut to it. They stung..felt like they were trying to stretch. He knew..what that meant.

He has a hold of your mind, boy. But he does not have a hold of mine.

Golden cat's eyes flew open. The boy took a step back, flipping the pen blade over in his hand. Toby spat a wad of saliva directly for those shiny coral eyes. They closed immediately..the boy staggered and swiped at his face. Toby slumped forward..the rigid tension he'd felt while under the boy's eyes was gone. He was tempted..to just lay down.

But..he had to get that paper..away from that kid..

He pushed up, readied a fist to strike out. The boy was faster. Toby choked on the taste of copper as the pen blade sank into his neck, was slashed through his skin. His hands flew to his own throat and he pinched down on the wound, spitting red onto the pile of clothing he'd landed on.

The sound of paper fluttering to the ground..breaking glass. The room felt like it was shaking. He curled his body away from the rainfall of shards pounding down. He barely saw the corner of the yellow parchment on the floor near him.

His hands were slippery..but they were cooling off.. He didn't think he was bleeding so much. The boy had missed..that vital artery.

Toby laid his head down..swallowing hurt. He didn't try to. Spittle drained out of the corner of his mouth. He did the same thing as the boy..grabbed pieces of the hoodie and pressed them into his neck.

The boy had left..that was good. He didn't know..what use that attempt had been. If the boy knew..then he knew. He'd said..the only way to keep him quiet..was to not touch..the vial.

He could do that..he'd lived with injuries before..

He just needed a minute..to calm down..