Crimson Spell (Alex --> Open)

[Reira]

It was happening again tonight, the same thing that happened to her every night in the last few days, when 3 am hit. Reira awoke form a dreamless sleep, in a cold chill. Even though piles of blankets were on her, the icy coldness never ceased to find it's way into the very pit of her bones. She knew what was coming next. It shouldn't of have surprised her anymore, but everytime she saw it, her body went rigid with fear, uncapable of moving or screaming. The only thing she could do was stare with wide eyes.

Sitting up, Reira's gaze fell to end of her bed. There looming over her was a humanoid spirit. A crimson red cloak drapped over its gangly body. The hood shadowed it's face, and it only revealed its spidery black fingers. All it would do was stand it's six feet, watching her, slowly moving its from side to side, in a hypnotic rhythm. Reira's breathing escalated in fear, her breath clearly visible in the spirits pressense.

As in the previous nights, Reira closed her eyes shut, and forcefully thought for it to go away. When she would open them again, it would be gone, but not on this night. Opening her eyes, she let out a gasp, realizing it was still there, this time much closer to her. Scrambling, she pulled her legs closer to herself and backed right up against the head board. "W-what do you want," she murmured. The crimson spirit only conintued to tilt it's head from side to side. It happend very fast. In the time it took for Reira to blink, the spirit had answered her question by wrapping its sinuous fingers tightly around her neck. Horrifyed and stuggling, she grasped it's wrists, trying to desperately to break it's hold on her.

Her vision blurred, and spots of black started to imerge together as her world began to dissapear. Then she was dreaming. Reira opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by nothing, there was only black from as far as she could see, stretching endlessly in all directions. She had no memory of what just happened, infact she had no thoughts whatsoever, only the compelling urge to walk forward. Moving her legs slowly, she began to walk to no destination. Her footsteps would hit the black underneath her it would ripple, like she was walking on water.

In reality, Reira's body was walking, but it wasn't her mind that controlled it. Her mind was lulled into silence. The spirit controlled her body now, it's goal unknown. She grabbed her MAC and contined to walk into the dark hallways of the school, only stopping at the entrance of the pool. Opening the door with her MAC, she quickly dropped it, no longer needing it. The pool was dark, the only light source emitting from the pool itself, courtesy from the underwater lights. Reira's body moved effortlessly around the edges of the pool. She was humming now. "Mmm mm mmmm m mmmm m mmm" The deep end waters of the pool stood still and peaceful underneath her.

In her mind, she heard a lullaby. There were no words, only a graceful humming. She contined to walk, the water rippling, supporting her weight. Then she stopped abruptly. Before her a burning white light coalesced, into a perfect image of her mother. Reira's emotions remained stoic, cold. "Come," her mother said gently, holding out a hand. Reira didn't move, she only stared at her, and her floating white dress. When she still didn't move, her mother's face darkened. "Come!," she said with a caliginous tone. "Mom," she whispered, holding out her hand and taking a step. There was no ripples this time, the black water that once supported her gave way, swallowing her completely.

Reira's body that remained still on the edge of the pool, took a step foward. The blue waters eagerly took her in, like hands dragging her down. Reira didn't struggle, allowing herself to sink, her mind wasn't there to allow resistance. In her mind, the water felt cool against her body, just like in reality. Yet in reality, Reira was drowning. In her black world, she was getting tired. Her eyes drooped, while floating into the blackness. It was peaceful..until she felt a horrible pain in her chest.

Her face grimaced, squeezing her chest. Her lungs, felt like they were bursting. Suddenly the black world washed away and Reira's mind and body were reunited. She screamed, letting out an array of bubbles. She understood what happened now. The spirit had possessed her, controlling her body, while feeding her mind with images to keep her unaware. It wanted her dead. Who was this spirit?! Desperate to save her own life, Reira focused on kicking her legs, using all her energy to reach the surface.

Had she sunk too far down for there to be any hope of saving herself? Kicking furiously, Reira could see the roof of the pool through the chlorine filled water. She was almost there, just a few more painful minutes. Her finger tips broke to the surface..

[Alex]

Alex was fast asleep in his room, but unlike other nights, his dreams were not peaceful. He tossed and turned in his bed, as beads of sweat started to form on his forehead and run down his face. He was having a dream, but this dream was different, it wasn't a nightmare, it was like...it was trying to tell him something...telling him to go somewhere...

- Alex's Dream -

Alex's eyes shot open, as he stared straight up, all around him, it was white, it just stretched on for miles and miles. Alex sat up, and looked around everywhere he looked, it was the same thing, nothing but white. He stood up, and when he took a step, the ground beneath his feet rippled, like he was walking on water. " What the...? Where am I?" he thought in his mind, as he walked straight ahead, looking around. And then he heard it. A faint voice, calling out to him.

" Alex..." " What the...? Whose voice is that?" Alex thought, a frown forming on his face, as he stopped and looked around, the voice calling out to him again. " Alex...please...help me..." " Who are you!? Where are you!?" Alex shouted out, looking up, right left, behind. " Help me...I'm drowning...help me..." " Drowning? What?" Alex thought, as he looked around, confused.

" I'm drowning...help me...save me...Alex..." " Save you? How? Where? Why?" Alex thought, questions racing through his mind. " Help me...help me..." Everything started to slowly fade into black around Alex, as Alex shouted, " Who are you! Where are you! Answer me!" But the only response Alex received before his world faded into total darkness was... "Help me...I'm drowning...help me..." And then there was nothing but black.

- Kane's Floor, Alex's room -

"!" Alex shot up in his bed, sweat running down his face, as his necklace flew in the air and landed back on his chest, as Alex gasped for air, his mind racing. " What...what was that just now..." he thought, as he craddled his head in his right hand. " Save you...you're drowning...but who are you...where are you..." he asked himself, as he closed his eyes. And then it hit him. There was only one place where someone could be drowning in this place. Alex bolted out of his bed, pulled on a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and a jacket, grabbed his MAC, grabbed a flashlight and ran out of Kane's Floor.

He raced across the school grounds, thelight of the flashlight in front of him, giving him good vision as he headed to the Central Building, opening the door with his MAC, and slowed his pace down to a walk as he reached his destination. The Pool. As he reached the entrance, his shoe hit something.

Alex shone the flashlight down, and saw what his foot had hit. It was a MAC. Someone's MAC. Alex bent down to pick it up, and placed it in his pocket. He pushed the door to the pool open, and saw the surface of the pool was rippling silently, the underwater lights giving off an almost ghostly glow.

Alex walked over to the pool edge, shining his flashlight around the pool, and then saw it. Fingertips. They broke the surface, and Alex immediately reacted. He shoved his flashlight into his pocket, tore off his jacket and t-shirt, and dove in. He swam quickly to the spot, and saw who it was. It was Reira. "Reira! Hang on!" Alex thought, as he reached her and dove down into the water. He hooked his arms underneath her armpits and quickly swam up, using his powerful leg muscles to power himself up to the surface.

Breaking the surface of the water, he swam backwards, pulling Reira with him. He reached the shallow end and turned her around gently, letting her lean against him, as he stood there, water dripping off his hair. " Reira...what happened..." he thought, as he looked down at her with a concerned look. He got out of the pool and pulled her out, laying her down on the pool floor. He grabbed his jacket that was nearby, and laid it on her, covering her chest, as he sat down beside her, waiting for her to respond. It had been a strange night so far. Would it get stranger? Who knew.

[Matrim]

Matrim got a text message from Rina.

Matrim, she went to the pool, I think she's about to go in, i need to go to the rest room so she'll be alone for a second.

Matrim woke up and grabbed his MAC, half asleep, looking at it, and he got a bad feeling in his stomach. He texted back,

Rina, I specifically said to take care of personal stuff on your own time. You've just failed you're mission, if Reira is hurt when I find her, its your hide.

Matrim got up in his gym shorts and nothing else, running towards the pool, he had a shirt in his hand that he attempted to get on, finally doing so he made his way towards the pool. He had been asleep and he was extremely worried for Reira. When he walked in he saw Alex and Reira on the ground with a jacket over her torso.

"What the hell happened Alex!" Matrim said, almost accusingly, he dropped down to Reira, "What happened here?"

Rina I'm going to kick your ass.....

Matrim was so panicked he wasn't sure how he could help. He just sorta moved his eyes all over, in the distance Matrim saw Rina walk in just sticking her head out from the other side of the pool. Mat gave her a sharp angry look that let her know she was in deep shit and she took off before anybody else could have possibly seen her.

[Reira]

Reira was in a disoriented mess. She was convinced she was dead. I don't want to be dead..there is so ..promises.. I..pain.. But wait, when you were dead, didn't that mean you couldn't feel any pain? I'm confused, because I'm in a lot of pain. My chest hurts, it's hard to breathe and what hurts even more is my throat. I must have swalloed a lot of water..and it choked me. I have bruises of it's hands, I know it, it's almost like I can feel it's grasp burning into my flesh still. " Reira...what happened..." A voice. I know that voice, but why is he dead? "What the hell happened Alex! What happened here?" Oh no! Not you too!! Ack! My stomach!

Reira suddenly opened her eyes. She was lying on something hard and damp, and the pool roof could be seen clearly. Abruptly, she turned onto her stomach, crouching on her hands and knees, and began coughing up water. She grimaced as the ordeal stung her throat. Placing her fingertips on her neck delicately, she could feel where the bruising was evident. She was alive.

The opposite could have very well happened. The spirit tried to kill her! Would it always come after her now? Was it still here, watching her at this very moment? Just thinking about the ghastly thing made her cold drenched body, only in a small shirt and pajama shorts, shiver. It's height, the colour of its cloak...it's black oily hand, choking her. Reira caught movment behind her in her peripherals. Looking over her shoulder, she saw two figures. The darkness of the room, obscurred any details. As shaken as she was, seeing two figures, half expecting one of them to be wearing a crimson cloak, scared the hell out of her.

A weak pathetic scream came out of her, as she scrambled to get away from the two shadows, only backing herself up against the pool wall. Calming down some, she actually took a long good look at the two, people. She recognized them. "Matrim?..Alex?...," she half muttered half croaked. Bringing her knees up, she hugged them. "I..this.it's so messed up." Her gaze darted around the perimeter of the pool, hoping to god, the she wouldn't see it again.

Reira was scared out of her wits. Sitting against the wall like that, really did make her look like a frightened child. She almost died...and what was worse, she had involved Matrim and Alex into this, both of whom probably thought she was suicidal. She didn't want to be here anymore, it was too hard to focus, to hard to keep from panicking. The grim reality of it all, shook her, made her jittery. She wanted to go back to her dorm and tuck herself away in her closet, where she could see every corner.

"No, not my dorm..," she said out loud, thinking she said it in her mind. In her dorm, and in her bed, was the last place she wanted to be at this moment. Squeezing the bridge of her nose, she forced herself to take deep breaths and calm down. There was no use in getting worked up. She was safe now.

Breathe, breathe..its gone now. I have a lot of explaining to do..

[Alex]

Alex continued to stay by Reira's side, as water dripped off his hair and ran down his chest, his shirt lying nearby in a jumbled pile. He looked down at Reira, his eyes filled with concern, as he saw her breathing lightly, and then suddenly, her eyes opened. His eyes flashed briefly, and then returned back to calm. She looked confused, almost like she didn't know what happened.

She turned on her stomach, and crouched on her hands and knees, coughing up water. "Reira!" Alex said alarmingly, as he kneeled beside her and rubbed her back gently, to help comfort her. And then it happened. The last person Alex had hoped to not come, because he didn't want him to see Reira like this. Matrim. And he was not happy.

"What the hell happened Alex! What happened here?" " If I knew the answer to that Matrim, why would I be asking what happened?" he replied back, almost annoyed, noting the accusation in Matrim's voice. He saw her sit up, and look at them, there was fear in her face, as she backed away, right up to the pool wall and screamed out weakly. " Reira?" Alex said, looking slightly shocked.

He saw her pause, taking a long look at them, and then she recognized them. "Matrim?..Alex?..." " Yeah, it's me." he said, as he reached out to Reira, who was sitting up now, and gently took his flashlight out of the jacket pocket. He turned it on, and shone it up at the ceiling, so that it illuminated his and Matrim's face. "See? It's us, no one else." He saw her bring her knees up and hug them tightly. "I..this. It's so messed up."

"Reira, it's alright, we're here now okay?" he said gently, as he reached out and pulled the jacket closer so that it covered her arms, she was shivering. "What happened? How did you get here? Why were you here?" Alex asked, moving back slightly, a small space in between the both of them, as Matrim looked on concerned. That had been too close.

Reira however, looked too scared to talk, so Alex let it go, she would answer when she was ready. What she did say however, Alex didn't expect to hear. "No, not my dorm.." " Your dorm....you don't want to go back to your dorm?" Alex asked, a frown on his face, something or someone had scared her, and it was from her dorm.

"Hmmm...well, if you don't want to go back to your dorm, would you rather go to Kane's Floor? Besides, you're shivering, even with my jacket on." Alex asked, as he helped her up, as she wobbled slightly, he grabbed onto her to help balance her. " Well Matrim, now what?" he asked, looking at Mat. "What do we do now?"

[Matrim]

"Easy, we get help. We're taking her to Kane's floor, but we're getting a group to go. I'll put the word out, the entire gang, we'll take turns watching her, making sure nothing comes to harm her, making sure she doesn't sleep walk, making sure no spirits invade her. Reira, you mentioned a spirit named Riley, if you have a way of contacting him, just tell me, I can get the whole gang to go look for him and inform him, even if he can't be seen or heard, he could hear them."

Matrim looked up to Alex, "I'll carry her, lead the way." Matrim picked Reira up, the jacket still wrapped over her, "We need to get her to a warm fire and out of these clothes. The second we get inside grab something warm for her to wear, PJ's and a sweatshirt or something."

Matrim started towards the door with Reira in his arms, "It's ok, we're going to take care of you, and we won't let this happen to you again."

Reira.... what did you see, what did you hear? You didn't do this to yourself.... there is no way you could have. So let's hear it, what did you see....

[Reira]

Reira finally calmed down. Alex helped her do so when he shined a flash light at his and Matrim's faces. The light itself was reassuring, she was sick of the darkness and yearned for a nice brightly lit room. Alex had put his jacket around her, and she gripped it closer to herself, thankful for the small warmth it provided. She hadn't realized how much her body was shivering, both from fright and being soaked.

Alex then assaulted her with questions, but Reira was still thinking about the nights events. She didn't answer him, only muttered something about not going back to her dorm. "Hmmm...well, if you don't want to go back to your dorm, would you rather go to Kane's Floor? Besides, you're shivering, even with my jacket on." She nodded, anywhere but here or her dorm. Forcing herself to get up was a little tough, it almost felt llike her legs had turned to stone, probably from kicking frantically. Alex helped her stand on her two feet, allowing her to lean on him. What to do now, was the question at hand. She wanted to explain. "I---" before she could start, Matrim spoke.

The plan was to take her to Kane's floor, where the whole gang would take turns watching her. Something that Reira wasn't looking forward to, she couldn't help but feel like she was going to be babysat for the next few days. Then again, she didn't feel like being alone either, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. They were going to make sure she wouldn't sleep walk and no spirits would invade her. She tried to speak again, wanting to tell them that it was a spirit, but once again Matrim continued speaking. It was probably for the best, Reira didn't have much of a voice at the moment.

"Reira, you mentioned a spirit named Riley, if you have a way of contacting him, just tell me, I can get the whole gang to go look for him and inform him, even if he can't be seen or heard, he could hear them."

Sighing, she finally spoke. Her voice was a little raspy, but hopefully that would go away soon. "I don't know how to contact Riley, I only ever see him when he chooses to see me. It wasn't Riley who did this..if that's what you are intending. It was something..much worse.." Matrim seemed to acknowledge what she said. He picked her up in his arms and carried her. She leaned her head on his shoulder, not wanting him to let her go. She was so tired, all her energy was gone, if she could, she'd wrap her arms around him.

Alex and Matrim continued talking. A warm fire and dry clothes sounded really nice right about now. "It's ok, we're going to take care of you, and we won't let this happen to you again." She smiled. "Mmkay," she said weakly, clearly on the verge of drowsiness. The sounds of their footsteps almost lulled her to sleep, but she didn't want to sleep..she had to explain first. She fought her tiredness.

"I appreciate all of this..but you can't protect me from what did this to me. It's something only I can get rid of. I just wasn't strong enough to stop it from possessing me tonight, that's all, I promise it won't happen again." She basically gave it away, this was done by a spirit. She told them everything. She went into detail about the Crimson cloaked spirit she had been seeing for the past few nights, how it possessed her, how she felt like she was dreaming, and walking on a continous black sheet of water. She also told them about how she saw her mother and how she snapped out of the trance and realized she was drowning. She left out the choking part. "I don't know why it wants me dead.."

When she was done, a silence washed over them. They probably thought she was crazy. At least, Alex probably did, she wasn't sure he knew what her Qi was. They were finally outside now, crossing the school grounds. The Hikari Building could be seen in the distance, a place with lights!

I'm going to have to hide my newly acquired bruising. I don't want to freak Matrim or Alex out anymore then I probably already did. I hate involving them in something like this..sorry..

[Alex]

"Easy, we get help. We're taking her to Kane's floor, but we're getting a group to go. I'll put the word out, the entire gang, we'll take turns watching her, making sure nothing comes to harm her, making sure she doesn't sleep walk, making sure no spirits invade her. Reira, you mentioned a spirit named Riley, if you have a way of contacting him, just tell me, I can get the whole gang to go look for him and inform him, even if he can't be seen or heard, he could hear them." "I don't know how to contact Riley, I only ever see him when he chooses to see me. It wasn't Riley who did this..if that's what you are intending. It was something..much worse.." Spirit? A spirit named Riley? Alex frowned, so a ghost was around the prison, interesting, he concluded that Reira was able to talk to and see Riley, based on what she said.

Matrim then looked at him and said, "I'll carry her, lead the way." "Right." Alex replied, bending down to pick up his shirt, and threw it back on, the shirt sticking to his wet body, but he didn't care, and led the way out of the pool. He pushed the pool door open, and held it open for Matrim to walk through. He then let the door close, and shone the flashlight on the ground, as he sent messages to each member of the gang, then stowing his MAC away. As they walked, he heard Reira speak, so he listened carefully to what she said. She explained what happened to her, the crimson spirit, everything. "I appreciate all of this..but you can't protect me from what did this to me. It's something only I can get rid of. I just wasn't strong enough to stop it from possessing me tonight, that's all, I promise it won't happen again. I don't know why it wants me dead.."

"Well, that's what we'll find out." he injected, his voice reassuring. He then reached Kane's Floor and his eye was scanned, as the door opened. He walked to the elevator, pushed the button, the doors opened, stepped in, and the door closed. They went up to the floor his room was on, and the elevator door opened. Alex stepped out, turned the doorknob to his room, and opened the door. " Put Reira down on my bed Matrim." Alex said, as he flicked on the light, flooding his room with bright lights, the darkness dispelled.

He then moved over to his drawer, and pulled out two t-shirts, one a regular one, the other a large pajama shirt, and two pairs of sweatpants. He handed the pajama shirt and sweatpants to Matrim, and went to his closet, and pulled out a thick blanket. " Reira, I'm going down to the kitchen to get you some food and a warm drink, Matrim, Annie will be here soon, she texted me back that she'll be here in a couple minutes, I'm going down to let her in, when she comes here, you'll have to go out for a couple minutes, to give Reira some privacy, Annie will let you back in when she's done okay? I'll be back." Alex said, as he walked out of his room, and went to the ground floor. He heard knocking at the door, and moved quickly to it.

" Alex? It's Annie!" he heard her say, as he checked to make sure it was indeed her, and he let her in. He then took her to the his room, and opened the door. As she passed him, he muttered, "Make sure she doesn't go anywhere." She nodded, and went in, as Matrim came out. Alex then went to the kitchen, and heated up some food and made hot chocolate for Reira. He then brought the food and drink back up, and saw that Matrim was gone, meaning he had gone back in. He opened the door, closed the door with his foot, and placed the food down in front of Reira, who was now in dry clothes and wrapped in the blanket. " Food's here." he said, smiling, "Careful, the chocolate is hot," as he reached over to grab the wet clothes, but something caught his attention as he did.

"!" was his reaction, his eyes flashing, as he saw the bruise on Reira's neck. He then straightened up, grabbed his dry shirt and pants, and smiled. " I'm going to the laundry room, to wash and dry the clothes, so I'll be back later okay? If you need anything, just text me, oh right." he realized, pulling out Reira's MAC from his jacket pocket. " Here, you dropped this." he said, holding out her MAC. " I'll see you later." he said, as he walked out of his room. Once out of his room, he breathed, that bruise, had it been caused by the spirit? Alex grimaced, this situation was getting more and more complex by the second. He then made his way to the laundry room, stripped off his wet clothes, changed into his dry ones, and tossed all the wet clothes into the washer. He then turned the washer on, and leaned on the dryer, thinking. " Just what is going on? This spirit...what is it? Where is it? And more importantly, why is it here?" Questions raced through Alex's mind, this night had gotten worse and worse.

[Riley]

Riley was wandering the school grounds, going nowhere in particular. He couldn't sleep, not that he needed sleep, but his roommate, Aternity did, so what did he do? He roamed the school grounds, trying to tire himself out. As he walked along, he felt a manevolent presence nearby. As he looked up in the direction he felt the presence emanating from, his eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in anger.

He glared at the crimson spirit that had emerged from the pool building, as it flew above him and out of his sight. " A spirit? What the hell is it doing here!? And why was it here!? No...it can't be...Reira!" he thought alarmingly, as he rose into the air and took off towards the pool building. As he flew along, he noticed a beam of light below him, he moved in closer to see what it was, and saw it was a flashlight, which had now disappeared into the building known as Kane's Floor.

At the brief moment Riley looked down at the beam of light, he saw a swish of hair, long hair, although it was dark, he could make out the colour slightly before it too disappeared into the building. "Pink. Reira." he thought, following after them. " But why is she going into the Hikari building? Never mind that, I have to make sure she's okay!" he thought, as he flew straight into the building. He made a guess that Reira was somewhere on the higher floor, and his guess was correct. He flew up through the floor, and saw Matrim disappear back into the room across from where he was.

Riley walked towards the door, and simply walked through the door to go into the room. He stopped as soon as he entered, and blinked. The room he was in, was very interesting, and huge! He meant it, it was huge! There were two guitars on stands in the room, a computer on the desk, and a bed bigger than his and Aternity's beds combined. " Wow..." he breathed, as he turned his attention to Reira, who was sitting on the bed. She was currently pre-occupied, so he took the moment to sit down in the chair by the desk.

He then stayed quiet, because he knew now that Reira was okay, for now. " Why was that spirit here? What did it want? That bruise..." he thought, noticing the bruise on her neck that she had hidden from Matrim and the other girl here. " Did that spirit do that? One way or another, I will find out." he thought, his eyes narrowing, the very thought of the spirit making his anger grow. " If it comes back to hurt Reira again, I will make it pay, dearly." As Riley sat there, brooding, a voice calling out to him snapped him out of his thoughts. "... ?"

OOC: I can't believe I double-posted, and as my two different characters! Somebody post already!