† Of dreams and nightmares

[stillsomehope]

You've finally come.

Gah!

[a man in his mid-twenties suddenly bolts upright. A hand clutching his chest, he takes a moment to collect his bearings before wincing in pain. The Snake and Holly pattern was still on his body, but he was alive.

He was aliveBut this... There was something strange about where he woke up; somehow, the hearth room

Comments

[strangledkirie]

[This wasn't the manor]

[There was much that the yurei was clueless about but she knew one thing about this place: It was not the manor.]

[She couldn't feel the gate. The feeling she felt was different]

[As such, she did the one thing that she 'felt' was logicalno feelings failures dont get to feel rope maidens dont get to feel anything]

[She floated through the Manor of Sleep, trying to find her way BACK]

[stillsomehope]

[he suddenly freezes mid-step. Turning sharply, Kei begins shining the flashlight over the room, trying to figure out the direction from which this horrible sense of dread was coming from.

The Tattoo on his body didn't pain him, so it must not have been the Priestess, but nonetheless... Such a foreboding feeling could not be from any passing spirit]

[taking a cautious step backward and towards a door, he continues to shine the flashlight in all directions, praying that the doors were opened like before]

[if they weren't...]

[strangledkirie]

[She felt it before she saw it]

[life]

[Something she was never given. Not life, not hope, not love, not peace not happiness not purpose notwomanhood notsafetynotlustnotchoicenoteventoseehimONELASTTIME!!!!]

[To say the least, Kirie did not like the living. Her envy of them bordered on the genocidal side of jealousy. She slowly began to head towards the feeling of life she felt, going through walls, doors and anything else that stood in her way]

[stillsomehope]

["I'll never let you go"?]

[he had to get away]

[It wasn't a question of how, he just needed to get away. Turning around, he forces the door open before breaking into a run. A Purifying Candle, the Camera Obscura, there had to be something that would ward off this menacing energy!]

[strangledkirie]

[That was a feeling she knew well]

[FEAR]

[They always radiated it when they finally became aware of her. It...excited (can the dead and damned every become excited?) the MALICE in her...and her.]

[She re-doubled her pace, growing more and more anxious of dragging this human down into despair with her]

"you shall...feel my PAIN"

[stillsomehope]

[quite frankly, while his despair couldn't quite compare with the torment that Miku, Mio and Rei must have felt, to say that he wasn't affected by the disappearances and death of his two best friends and niece was far from the truth.

And really, he had to deal with the pain of one Priestess already. Two would be overkill]

[Running through hallway after hallway, he continues to try and figure out exactly who it was that was chasing him. Either the Kuze Family Head or the Tattoo Priestess... Because if it was the Woman Brushing (Kyouka...?) then she would have been on him already]

[strangledkirie]

[Perhaps it was the sense of fear and urgency...but it might be clear too]

[Clear that something was coming, yes. But from where?]

[Perhaps Kei wouldn't notice, what with Kirie's hateful aura all around them, but she is actually ahead of him]

[Standing in his path....just beyond the next hallway...into the manor of ropes....]

[stillsomehope]

[sweet mother of pearl, this one's crazier than Kyouka. CROUCH, MAN, CROUCH!!]

[he turns the corner and freezes. This...]

No... [he takes a few cautious steps backwards and, at the same time, reaches for his camera. With a proper photo, he should be able to distract her long enough to get away.

And get away properly]

[strangledkirie]

[Fortunately for the man, she wasn't ready to kill him....noooo...killing him in anyplace but the manor would make it feel...wrong]

[So, for now, Kei would have to settle. He could take a picture and if he looked at his filament, he would see that it was yellow...but dull, as if she wasn't fully hostile yet]

[She turns around, looks back at Kei. Snap a picture now, buddy! It might be your only chance!

[stillsomehope]

[when she turns around, his reflexes kick in. Raising his camera in front of him, he presses the shutter button almost automatically, unaware that the filament wasn't glowing red.

Still, it's a relief when she doesn't come to attack him. Taking this as his cue to leave, Kei turns and returns to the areas he's familiar with. Looks like he'll have something else to research when... if he wakes up]

[strangledkirie]

=Rope Priestess=

-It appears that the picture shows a woman with ropes bound to her ankles and wrists-

[The picture takes on that familiar hue, the color of a picture that would appear in the 'real world', awaiting someone to develop it...]

[The haunting presence and anger leaves as the ghost does. But something echoes out to Kei....the tinkling of a small bell...]