Quest for the Eighty-Eight Keys

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Hand Knife Trick

WARNING: GAMBLING, PANIC ATTACK, SELF-HARM, AND VAGUE MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Midnight opened his eyes, his mind in a haze. He slowly sat up with a soft grunt and placed his hand on his forehead. He grimaced at the feeling of his head dully pained. His eyes were still trying to remain open as he looked around at his surroundings, trying to remember where he was and why he was there. He looked down, seeing that he was sitting on the floor. He gave a short groan as he used the table next to him to pull himself to his feet.

He looked down at the table, seeing that three cards with a faint star silhouette on the back of two of them. One of the two stars was moved slightly higher than the second one. He was suddenly hit with memories of what had transpired in that room, causing him to give a breathy gasp as he took a few steps away from the table. He heard a metallic clinking sound as his foot stepped on something. He looked down to see a silver gate key. With a shaking hand, he reached down to pick up the key and stuffed it into his coat pocket.

Midnight remained in place as he stared down at the table. His breathing was heavy and his heart was pounding against his chest. His mind was racing with questions. Why was Abeze here? It's been a little more than a decade since he last came here with Brain. How could someone remain in one nest of gambling dens for so long? Why would he remain here for that long?

He brushed his hand over his upper thigh, still feeling the man's hand there despite knowing that it wasn't actually there. He felt a sudden wave of cold wash over him, causing him to shiver. He leaned forward to brace himself on the table when he was taken over by a feeling of light-headedness and he placed his other hand against his chest when he felt a sharp pain there. The reflector mage's stomach turned with nausea and saliva flooded his mouth, making him clench his teeth and hunch over the table in an effort to prevent himself from vomiting.

Midnight tried to calm his own breathing, but wasn't able to focus properly due to his attempts to suppress unwanted memories and ignore the feeling of hands on his body. Tears welled up in his eyes threatening to spill. He bit into his lower lip and moved his hand from his chest to forcefully wipe at his upper thighs before kneeling on the floor, his forehead resting against the edge of the table when his shaking knees gave out from under him. Sweat ran down his temples and dripped from his chin.

He bit harder into his lower lip, pain shooting through it as he broke the skin and a bead of blood dripped down his chin. A creak sounded at the door, causing his red eyes to flick over at it. Fear raced through him as he watched the door intensely, silently begging for it to not open and reveal Abeze. He couldn't face that man, not again, not ever again. He didn't think he could fight off the older man, not like this, at least.

He didn't know how long he had been like that, kneeling beside a table and tearfully staring at the door as fear of the man who had left him there filled him. His heart was racing, his breathing was heavy, sweat was almost drenching him, his body was trembling, and he felt strangely cold. It seemed to all end suddenly.

Midnight was no longer feeling cold and his body's trembling was gradually slowing. He no longer felt rough hands roaming over his body and his chest pain had eased majorly. He gripped the table with both hands and pulled himself to his feet. His heart was still beating quickly, though it had already started to calm, and he was still in the process of calming his breathing.

He leaned against the table for several extra minutes, waiting for his heartbeat to return to its normal pace, his breathing to calm, and his legs to stop trembling. Once this happened, he was left feeling tired and with a slightly sore feeling in his muscles.