The Summoning

XIV - Rain

I woke from a nightmare, gasping for air as I sat straight up in bed before realizing I wasn't choking on water anymore. Pressing my hand to my chest, I felt the breaths come in and out until my lungs were able to process the oxygen flowing in and my heart rate calmed. 

Snapping my head up to the open doorway, I recognized the faint sound of a piano immediately. It was still the middle of the night, the darkness sparkling in the moonlight with the rain streaking against my window. Testing the injured leg on the cool floor, the pain spreading over my leg was less than it had been yesterday. If I could put most of the weight on my good leg, I may be able to quietly sneak down the hall without my crutch. 

Slipping out of bed, I took a few steps without immediately grasping for the crutch and figured I would be okay to tiptoe down the hallway without it. The t-shirt I wore to bed was smaller than the Suicide Silence one, a frayed Pantera shirt, and I threw on IV's Of Mice & Men sweatshirt he left for me. 

Starting down the hall, as before, I heard the sound of the piano grow louder. It seemed to crawl over the floor of the cathedral with more reverberation and I realized he had left the doors open this time. 

"If I'm a pagan of the good times, my lover's the sunlight. To keep the Goddess on my side, she demands a sacrifice..."

I recognized the tune as I drew near, peaking past the door to find him sitting at the piano wearing the cloak that swept to the floor with the hood pulled over to hide his face once more. 

Wringing my hands together, I debated a few moments before taking a few steps into the room. JuJu was curled up at his feet, chin laying over the top of Vessel's foot, uncaring of the way their head bobbed as Vessel pressed over the piano's peddles in tune. 

"Drain the whole sea, get something shiny. Something meaty for the main course, that's a fine lookin' high horse. What you got in the stable? We've a lot of starving faithful..."

His slight accent seemed to make the song his own, along with the forlorn way he poured emotion into the words. 

As I slipped to the side of the door in the room, leaning against the wall and taking a breath, JuJu snapped his head up and trilled before padding over to me. Vessel watched him go until his eyes seemed to land on me, lifting his hands from the keys completely. He forewent his mask this time, turning to get up.

"Please keep playing." My voice the only sound in the room now, it felt much larger. 

He froze where he was, seeming to contemplate my words as he watched me kneel to the floor and pet JuJu. He didn't move and I didn't speak for a few moments as we looked at each other. The candlelight barely lit his face, but didn't give away any sort of expression as he studied me. As if unwillingly, he slowly turned back to the piano and began a different song.

I let myself sink to the floor to sit as JuJu crawled into my lap, purring lowly. A smile spread over my face as I scratched into the cat's fur, before lifting my eyes and catching Vessel glance my way. His fingers glided over the keys and I kept the small, content smile on my lips even when he turned back to the piano.

He began a slow, languid pressing of keys as if testing out the tune. At first, it sounded like he had begun playing the theme for Silent Hill, the melody that was reminiscent of a lullaby, before letting it fade out.

"For so long, I have waited. So long that I almost became just a stoic statue fit for a nobody and I don't wanna get in your way. But, I finally think I can say that the vicious cycle was over the moment you smiled at me..."

It was so strange that I had never felt this level of calm and drowsiness before.

The next thing I remembered in a vague dreamlike state, was being carried through the darkness before being gently laid onto warm sheets. The calming scent and warmth of saltwater and cedar enveloping me before fading along with the small sliver of consciousness.