Post by Sol on Aug 23, 2014 0:45:38 GMT -5
“There is no hiding from the curse,
There is no way to foray the twisted weave.
The mind writhes as it seeks to grasp hold,
A hold on the power promised, the power that tasted so sweet
But the Eye is blind and cannot see the fires ahead.”
-إرث من أولد
We all have it in us. A driving force to take hold of that one thing we feel we can’t live without. A reliance crafted by the mind to substitute pain in exchange for ecstasy. To harbor us from the evils of the world and the tricks our own minds love to play. For some it is the warmth of another, be it to fill a void where love was lost or to give into primal impulses. And in others it is less of a private comfort and more for a loss of control.
To be unbound and unrestrained, to feel no emotions but those of the moment in a blur of bright lights and empty bottles. And others still it is to block out the world and take hold of what can make them numb to the universe around them. To shut out the bad and the good, to deaden the nerves and the rambling of thought. To be lost in that torpid state…to be lost in the addiction.
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“It’s too early for this shit.” The man with the thick mustache muttered as he brought his coffee up to his lips and his tired gaze drifted to the passing buildings. He didn’t much care for compact cars but everything seemed compact in Japan. Cars were small, rooms were small, even most of the people were small. Seki liked to think he was special, standing at an impressive five-foot-ten and harboring a fondness for American muscle cars.
His driver, however, was as plain as plain could be. He seemed a little young to have joined the police force but such idle thoughts were moot. Catching the occasional glimpse his way, the mustached man chuckled and then cursed himself when he slopped some of his coffee on his hand. Letting out a disgruntled sigh, he shot a glare at the smiling driver who immediately fixed his eyes to the road.
“Well, it’s only natural you be here for a situation like this, detective.” The young man laid it out bluntly, trying all the while to act as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. It took all he had for the man not to glare at the youngster, to dissuade him from simple small talk with a firm look and quite possibly the back of his hand. Grunting in response, the man drank his coffee before he looked out the window at the road they sped pass. Dawn had crept up on him and a night out in the city turned to an early morning call. The sun was slowly peeking over the horizon, bathing the sky in a brilliance of purple and orange.
“I guess I’ve never been much of a morning person. I have to drag my ass out of bed and do a few ride-alongs to make sure you guys are doing your job.” Seki explained, stifling a yawn and setting his coffee in a holder as he rubbed his temples. “Not to say that you guys don’t do your job, but it’s all part of the annual routine: Senior personnel from different districts get to babysit for a couple days. Bah, at least this sounds exciting in comparison to a few ticketed jay-walkings I had the joy of witnessing last year.”
“I wouldn’t call what happened exciting, Tomokazu-san. It’s going to take a lot of time and money to get things back in order. And the people…” The mustached man waved off the officer’s response, wanting to roll his eyes. Not that the young man was wrong but there was a certain irritation at being called by his surname.
“Listen, I understand your sentiment but this…well, not every day a little town like yours makes the headlines.” And if on cue they rode above the hill to display the sight that had brought them there. Both men seemed to have held their breath for the disaster in front of them.
Railway carts stacked on top of one another, twisted steel folded and torn as it stretched out to rip the ground asunder. Tracks were pried from the earth where they had lain for years and even the locomotive itself seemed little more than a crushed can. Several carts lay scattered in the distance while another seemed to have careened even further along the street. At the crossroad of tracks and street, vehicles were crumbled and smashed. Seki grimaced as he saw the smear of red staining the tattered asphalt and dip into the nearby ditch where groups of men in yellow vests were moving about.
Flashing lights from emergency vehicles dotted along the disaster. Rescue and salvage operations were well underway, but it seemed to him that the ambulances lacked any living survivors. Letting out the breath he had been holding, he rubbed his eyes and mumbled a few curses to himself. Interesting? What a morbid fuck he must've sounded like. He hadn’t expected so many to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Questions tumbled in his mind, questions that he knew he’d have to answer or at the very least deter till he could perform a proper investigation.
“Do you think this was really an accident…?” The officer said, still in awe with the amount of destruction he was witnessing. Thumbing his mustache, Seki Tomokazu drew his lips thin as he thought on it.
“If this was intentional than it would’ve been done in a more populated area, don’t you think?” The detective asked the young officer who sullenly nodded as he pulled the car up to another, red and blue lights still offering that blinding glare. The answer didn’t seem to please the officer and Seki couldn’t blame him. It was time to put the inspection on the back burner and offer a hand with this investigation. He needed to come up with something more concrete, something more substantial to keep minds at ease, even if it was premeditated. Taking hold of the door handle, he let out one more exaggerated sigh before opening the door…
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[-12 Hours Earlier-]
Click-clack-click-clack-click…
Sol looked up as another train passed by, subconsciously cramming another pill into his mouth. Pulling his fingers from his mouth, a strand of saliva dripping off his fingertips and down his scraggly beard, he scowled at his hand as if it was the culprit. He hadn’t meant to eat that pill, that one was meant for a rainy Tuesday afternoon. The vagabond sighed after he swallowed the capsule, letting his hand fall to the ground as the back of his head hit the freight container. It was going to rain soon but it sure wasn’t a Tuesday. Or was it?
The vagrant wished he hadn’t given his book to the girl weeks ago...or days? Was it a girl or a man? Begrudgingly, he accepted it. He, or she, needed it more than him. A book could calm a man’s nerves, let him sink into a world that wasn’t his own. It always seemed, at least to him, that the characters in his books always had more important issues to deal with. Personal strife was nothing compared to having your grandmother eaten and then a wolf wearing her skin. Or perhaps it had a deeper meaning? Probably a message in adolescent trust or of a man taking advantage of a young girl?
Train of thought lost once more, he knew he should seek shelter. Perhaps find a lone train cart and attempt to hold himself up in it. The thought trailed off at the mention of staying in one place too long. No, he needed to keep moving. To be gone, to find someplace where no one could find him. Memories of a cabin sifted into his mind. Pleasant smells of pine and grass, of nature at its best. The feel of fallen leaves, of grass and broken branches beneath his feet.
Wiping the drool that was starting to trail down his chin, he gave a sharp curse as he rolled to his feet. Bones creaked as muscles expanded, forcing back any notion of atrophy. No, for whatever reason that prodded at him, Sol felt he had to keep traveling at this time. For him, staying still meant that they would find him again. They would drag him to a dark hole and torture him, find a way to claw into his trust and then turn it on end before sinking the knife into his heart. And if that happened he’d be nothing more than a husk.
He had no intention of being a victim again.
White, messy hair swayed in front of his vision as he eyed another train passing by. Scooping up his duffel bag, he took a step forward only to feel his knee buckle. Snakes slithered up around his foot when he had peered down, cobras and rattlesnakes sliding and constricting along his leg. As fear grasped at him, Sol fell backwards as he swatted at his legs. After a few seconds, he realized the snakes were no longer there. If they had ever been there in the first place. The low hum of voices started to cascade into his mind and Sol shut his eyes tight as he attempted to repress them.
As they cleared, fading into the background, Sol picked himself off the ground again. A disgruntled sigh left him as he made his trek through the train yard. It looked like it hadn’t been used in decades. The occasional abandoned train car lay scattered here and there, succumbing to rust and the slow creep of vegetation. Rail tracks lay stacked and bound, meant to be used for a later date that never came. It was a place forgotten, left abandoned by superstition and hearsay as opposed to being renovated for something of use.
But the railway was still in use…and trains passed by quite often. Sol could have even have been there before, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibilities considering how much traveling he had done. Rolling his shoulders, he hid behind a stack of wood and waited for the next train. Twenty minutes seemed to be the usual interval and it was best not to be spotted by the conductor beforehand. It would make things far more aggravating. They had a tendency to let the train continue towards its destination while radioing ahead for the authorities to pick up anyone that had found that free ride.
Seconds passed, each one seeming to stretch further and further as his drugs kicked in. Everything seemed at a standstill, trees halting their slow sway as each rustling leaf sounded like a crackle of thunder. His foot slid along a smattering of rocks, grinding them underfoot as the dark clouds in the sky hastened in their churning. Growing impatient and wanting to spill forth at any moment. Eyes feeling like they were looking in all directions at once, a smile creased his lips before he heard that familiar approach. Clickity, clackity, and up and down, and over and over.
With his mind lost in a trance, his body reacted quick enough as the train passed by. Another cargo train, moving at a snail pace. But that pace was faster than he cared to walk. Fingers wrapping around a handle, his body was lifted off the ground as he pulled himself closer to the moving vehicle, slamming his weight against a door while his duffel bag bashed into him from behind. Had he been more coherent he would’ve thought to pull the strap tighter but letting it dangle freely was well enough. Yanking open the door, he was surprised to see a startled face of a young man looking back at him.
His grip loosened and the pale man let out a growl as he prepared for the hard landing that was to come. Maybe he’d be so lucky as to hit an oncoming tree, knock the illusions from his head with one good concussion. The scenario didn’t play out for him as he felt a tug on his wrist and he was yanked inside the open door. Tumbling inside, he took hold of the throat of the man who touched him, his eyes glazed with a heinous glare.
“Whoa, whoa! Wait, he was just trying to help! Just wait, man!”
Aside from the rasping sound the one in his grip was making, the second voice seemed to have pierced the veil of Sol’s murderous intent. Looking up, he saw another young man who looked disheveled and panicked. Something seemed off….something he shouldn’t be doing. Common sense ebbed away at his confusion, the vagabond releasing his grip on the man and standing aside as he coughed and took deep, sharp breaths. His companion ran up and helped him to sit up, patting him on the back as he tried his best not to look in Sol’s direction.
The presence of another had Sol spinning on his heel to see that the third man was sitting in a corner, offering a sharp yelp as he looked away from the violent man and pulled his beanie forward to cover his face. He hadn’t really expected others, hadn’t wished it, hadn’t wanted it in the slightest. Pine oil and various other scents that brought a dull throb to the vagrant’s head sifted in the air. This entire situation was outside of his current thought process, considering how toasted he was. Popping open another bottle and letting a few pills slide into his mouth, which he proceeded to chew fervently, Sol wedged himself between a stack of pallets as he eyed the trio with lazy eyes.
“Sorry.” Sol muttered an apology, though with only the young man's cough filling the void of silence, it echoed loud enough to draw the attention of all three. A vicious glare was shot at the vagrant from the one he assaulted, a youthful looking man with scraggly black hair and a poor attempt at a mustache. A baseball cap was pulled tight on the other who was helping his friend, a cautious darting of the eyes directed towards the vagrant.
An hour had passed as the trio huddled together on the opposite side of the train car and Sol merely stared at the ground, his drugs finally settling in after all the excitement. Visions of a cat in a top hat performing a nice song and dance number gave him a ridiculous grin, which was sure to creep out his fellow train hoppers. It didn't matter, though. His head no longer throbbed but his stomach rumbled, a constant reminder that he had to have something other than his pills.
When was the last time he ate something? Days? Weeks? Was that even possible? The thought alone made his stomach twist all that much more, that awareness pulling him from his fanciful delusions he had been enjoying. Sneering in disgust, Sol pulled his knees up to his chest and turned to the side and closed his eyes. Sleep. Sleep was always the solution. It was easier to just ignore it, to let the dreams settle in. Any dream was better than realizing he was starving. His body would endure like it always had, the vagrant told himself time and again.
“Here.” The voice pierced his veil of concentration, shook the delusions free at last. Head lolling to the side, Sol took in the presence of the boy he had almost strangled to death. A bag of chips was in his hand as he presented it the vagrant. Eying the bag suspiciously, Sol just stared at the man as his attempted to center on the young man's face.
“We can hear your stomach growling from over there. Just take it...” The young man insisted, pushing it towards Sol who recoiled further back between his pallets. Sighing, the young man set it at the vagrant's feet and sat across from him. It was dark in the cabin of the train car but forms could still be made out. Rain pelted the car, offering a rhythmic droll to the situation. Why was he bothering him, especially after he just tried to kill the kid when they first met?
“My name is Nori. That's Yuu with the beanie and the one you met before is Kisho. We're students from Kure University, down in Hiroshima,” He paused, as if Sol should react to the name before continuing, “We're actually doing a study on homelessness in Japan, getting to see things from a different perspective. I'm sorry if we startled you before, you gave us quite a scare when you flung that door open. What's your name?”
“Leave him alone, Nori, he probably doesn't even speak Japanese.” Yuu said, glaring at the vagrant as he pulled his backpack closer. Sol, eyelids drooping, scoffed at the comment before snatching up the chips.
“Sol. Thank you.” Sol muttered, though it was slurred. That would probably be the orange pill with black lines that tingled his tongue in a usually very pleasing manner. The vagrant started as Nori clapped his hands together with a laugh.
“See, Yuu doesn't like foreigners very much. It's hard to tell with all those clothes you wear but your skin and eyes give you away.” Nori chuckled though put up his hands in apology when Sol's brows narrowed. “Sorry, sorry. So what brings you to Japan? Why are you train hopping? Did you lose your passport or your working visa? When was the last time you show-”
The bombardment of questions caused Sol's eye to twitch as he shoveled the chips into his mouth. Nori was blunt, to put it lightly. It had been awhile since someone so actively interested in him, it was almost flattering if Sol didn't feel so uncomfortable. He had never bothered to try getting a passport or any such thing, he simply wandered from one place to the other. Getting into the country in the first place wasn't as difficult as others made it out to be. The thought never warranted much attention. It took him a moment to realize Nori was still asking him questions.
“I...just want sleep. Answers. Later.” Even his speech pattern was starting to break up and now that he had a little food in his system, lethargy was starting to kick in all that much quicker. That man was too curious. Too curious, it was annoying. Nothing ever good happened to curious people. Icarus, Amaterasu, Pandora...oh, especially Pandora. Nori was still saying something but Sol ignored him, turning his shoulder to the young man as he gripped his duffel bag.
Sleep couldn't be so bad...right? He had food in his stomach. He wasn't alone. No need for a bad dream this time. No need...
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Static.
Flowers.
S t a t i c.
Flames.
S t a t i c.
Her cheshire smile.
S t a t i c.
The dream that was always the same, ever consistent yet never remembered. No longer. Clarity set in as the vision before him twisted, warped and shifted. Flowers as far as the eyes could see where no longer prevalent. A single tram car rest on abandoned tracks, age and creeping foliage taking a firm grip. Clenching his hands and unfurling his fingers time and time again, Sol stared at his hands for a long moment. A strong gust of wind pushed him forward, the white-haired vagrant taking a step forward to steady himself.
Looking back down the tracks that stretched for miles on miles, the vagrant looked up at the sky as the wind danced around him. Clouds, thick in violet and orange, swirled with the roaming zephyr. The air was clean, even the biting wind was a comfort. Where had he been before this? The thought skittered into his mind only to be drowned out by flapping wings. A shiver ran up his spine as he turned to look back down the tracks.
A shadow moved in the distance, wavering with heat. Teeth clenched, body trembling, Sol ran towards the tram car. His boots crunched dry, rotted wood as he took a firm grip of the handle and pulled with all his might. Groaning in resistance, the door was slowly pried open, dust flowing out after being trapped within so long. Pulling himself in, swatting aside hanging vines and cobwebs, Sol fell back and proceeded to kick the door closed in a panic.
What was he afraid of? Why should he be afraid? No, there was reason. Instinct told him otherwise, told him to cower at the beast in the distance. Maybe the thing wouldn't notice him, if he stayed quiet. Crawling along the floor of the tram, eyes never leaving the dust covered windows, Sol's hand took a handful of cloth. Looking down, he saw that it was a quilt, a variety of images and scenes stitched in. The car rumbled before he could examine it further, a shadow looming over the tram.
Not thinking, the vagrant grabbed the quilt and threw it over himself as he tried to wedge himself under a row of seats. Unable to help himself, he took quick and short breaths, pulling the quilt tighter around him. It stalked about just outside of the tram, heat enveloping the entire car as it let out a guttural breath. Covering his mouth, Sol's eyes started to roll back as the heatwave caused his body to be drenched in sweat and the vegetation to start curling and withering.
His body felt as nothing more than that of a child's. And his curiosity matched, as he pulled the quilt from his eyes to look. To see what terrible sight there was to see. And he immediately regretted doing so. Seven glaring eyes, all a deeper red than Sol could ever have imagined. Giant claws swiped at the tram, causing it to roll off the tracks as it gave a deafening roar. The vagrant, who had taken the form of a child and was now screaming as his body was tossed about, was beside himself in stark terror.
Rusted metal twisted and glass shattered, all tearing at his body as he was thrown around. Finally the car stopped, Sol making every effort to move but found he couldn't. Dark red stained the quilt, blotting out an image of a smiling girl with blue hair. Lazy eyes looked up, vision hazy, but they soon widened as a voice ripped into his mind.
You smell of the Taint, it is thick about you, plebeian! Scum! Filth! You would seek to betray the Father like the Serpent before you! You who has drank from the poisoned Well, you who wields the Eye blindly! I will see you crushed in my fangs!
Dark claws of smoke and ash ripped the tram apart, fire flaring all around as the seven-eyed beast loomed ever closer, ready to fall upon the screaming child.
Flames.
Teeth.
Blood.
Fire....fire....fire...
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His eyes snapped open, a flicker of a flame held close to his face. Sweat drenched his body but it held no consequence. Sol's eyes were locked on the flame, his pupils dilated and quaking as he took a sharp breath and held it. His tattered pupil in his right eye began to swirl furiously.
“Hey, Sol-san, you okay? Yo—eeeaaaahhgg!!” Yuu screamed, the last sound he made before being ripped apart by an unseen force. The lighter he had been holding was torn to pieces, yet the flame saw fit to catch fire to the train car's wooden floor. Blood smeared the entirety of the small space, entrails dripping from the ceiling and splashing to the flaming floor. Shocked and terrified stares came from the other two as they shrunk away from Sol, whose blood-curdling echoed and dwarfed the pitter patter of the rain.
We see you, I see you, we fall down, you fall down! Fuck you, you shit! Little voice, dark, twisted, prepare for the coming. The coming of the snake that slithers and the one who whispers on the wind, I love the feel, oh daddy, feel the taste, on wet lips! Penetrate! Burn! Make it hurt, daddy, make it hurt good! The lion beckons, it wants blood...blood...
Fire was all that encompassed his mind, the voices feeding his fear with taunting and musings. The heat. The flames. The smell of burnt flesh. The taste of ash.
The fire...the fire...the fire to burn a thousand souls.
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“Mama, I'm hungry.” The small girl said, fidgeting in her seat. Peering through his rear view mirror to get a better look at his daughter, a man with thin-rimmed glasses smiled sweetly before turning to look at his wife. Wiper blades dragged across the windshield as the rain continued its downpour.
“Well, I'm sure papa would be happy to stop at a mini-mart and we'll get you something. How does a dumpling sound?” At the sound of food, especially something the girl loved, her eyes lit up and she sat straighter in her seat. The mother smiled at the husband before resting her chin in her hand. Readjusting his mirror, seeing the line of cars behind him as they weighted for the train to finish its crossing, the father gave a nod.
After having traveled so far, he was looking forward to seeing his parents again. It had been far too long. If only they had moved closer at his request they wouldn't need to travel so deep into the countryside. Letting out a sigh to express his thoughts, his wife leaned over and patted him on the leg. She seemed to have a direct link to his brain and he appreciated that, it made things between them so much easier than he had seen from some of his colleges and their relationships.
“This is a long train, poppa.” The girl muttered, looking out the window and being entranced by the flashing of the red lights. He hummed an agreement, rubbing his eyes and straightening his glasses soon after. It had been a long time since he had been this way, he was surprised the old tracks were still in operation.
A boom rippled through the rain, causing the rain to expand out. The train carts lurched upward, the tracks twisting and ripping free from the earth in a nightmarish display of metal and sparks. Train cars were flipped around, causing the ground to rumble and shake violently. His girls were screaming, his own mouth caught agape as he stared at what was unfolding before them.
A red train car ripped in two, flipping on top of another. Several train cars further back ripped from their attachments, tearing through the field adjacent to them and being flung behind them. Rolling over several of the cars stopped behind theirs, crushing those who had gotten out of their vehicles into a fine red paste. Fear found its way through the shock, the father slamming his hand on the clutch. His little girl was calling out, over and over again.
Sparks and fire, twisted steel and shattered terrain. His wife's nails dug into his arm, drawing blood for sure. She should know better than to do something like that, this was his favorite shirt. He wanted to look nice for his parents. Show off his family, make his father nod his head in approval like he always did when they visited. He really enjoyed that, making them proud.
“Papa! Papa!”
It tore through the grass and the asphalt, the turned over train car gaining speed towards them. He wondered how late his parents would stay up waiting for them.
He never had to wonder again.
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Pain wracked his body as he stumbled down an alleyway. Blood dripped all along his skin, mixing with the rain if only to be swept away. His duffel bag was being dragged behind him, a tattered strap all that was left as the contents spilled along the alley. What happened? He stopped to look at his bloodied hands, nicks and cuts adorned ever inch. A train? There was a train.
You fall, we fall...
Dropping the strap, he grabbed his head as he stumbled forward into a stack of boxes. Voices taunted and pulled, spat their vulgarities. Wanting to laugh, he winced as he looked down and saw a shard of metal jutting from his ribs. Turning on hi back, letting the rain fall on him, he ripped out the shard with a loud scream and let it clatter to the hard ground.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
What did he do? What...? Nothing. He didn't do anything, no. There was nothing because nothing was what happened. He had been somewhere else.
Yes.
Yes, that's it.
No acknowledgment for something that never happened. All that happened was that he tripped and fell. The voices egged him on, whispered in his head in a hundred different tones, a hundred different syllables, a hundred different languages. He had fallen, is all. Just running, running from the bad, bad people that wanted to do him harm. That's all, just a trip and stumble along his journey. North. He should be heading north.
Footfall. Someone was approaching him but he didn't have the strength to turn his head. Just someone else coming to bother a homeless man. Just a ruffian, let him have his fun. Let him kick and stab, nothing to fear. Sol's vision blurred and his eyelids were heavy. Just let them have their fun. All black leather, she stopped in front of him, looking down at him.
Her face...it was a her, right?
“You really made a mess this time. They're gonna find you at this rate...otouto-kun owes me big, I swear...”
Her voice was familiar yet he couldn't peg it. It didn't matter. Closing his eyes seemed so much better than having to stay awake. Just drift off. Forget why he was there, forget where he had come from...
Forget what he had done...
~Fin
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Total WC: 5056
Total GP: 67
After "Catch on the Peripheral" /Before "Candor of Sin"
