Metallic Wings (Kakanaru)

Chapter 6: Who's angry?

Naruto let the silent tears make their trip down the curve of his cheeks as his chest heaved in and out quickly. The feeling of being alone again had never hurt him this much. The boy hastily wiped his tears with his hands, not wanting to damage Inu's shirt after how kind he was to Naruto, but the boy did not sob. No, he never sobbed. He always distanced himself from others that being hurt was a normal event he no longer had the energy to care about. Sliding down against the closed door he looked up at the ceiling only to feel a harsh tug on the back of his mind. It didn't hurt but it wasn't a gentle pull either. Ignoring the now growing thumping in his head Naruto closed his eyes holding the book close to his chest.

Immediately he brought his legs together and opened the book to once again find escapism in the enticing book. But the headache had increased and left the boy grimacing as to what was happening. What is wrong with you? Naruto angrily scolded himself in his head only for the hammering to grow in strength. Gritting his teeth he slammed his head against the door repetitively to try and overpower the growing pain, like he was trying to illogically fix a broken toy by hitting it once or twice. But normally this method does not work.

A hostile tug pulled him out of his conscience and left him feeling lost.

His body felt weightless. Drifting in an infinite space of dark emptiness. Opening what he felt was his eyes Naruto choked on the sudden rush of liquid entering his nostrils. Coughing out in surprise Naruto's body jerked to life as he promptly jumped to his feet and leant against the wall for balance. His brain spinning in, a tornado of rapid thoughts as he greedily took deep breaths of air only to stop. His mind went blank.

Moving his hand he felt a heavy liquid soak onto his clothing. In the dingy red light his eyes took a long time to adjust as he blankly stared at his hands in puzzle. Flesh. There was a distinct odour of freshly spilt blood, which Naruto normally reacted indifferently to, dominated the air. But his rational side kicked in. A chill ran down his spine as he stared in horror at the black blood which was freely oozing out the cracks of the mouldy grey walls. Mixing in with the fresh water which reached up to his knees. Jerking away from the wall, he was leaning on, Naruto noticed how narrow the passageway was. His breathe quicken as he felt the familiar claustrophobic pressure weighted down onto him like a tonne of bricks.

Without thinking the boy bolted along the maze of passageways. Some spilt into multiple lanes. Some he could clearly see had a dead-end. Some made him feel like the wall were closing into him making him hyperventilate with the feeling if impending doom. The contaminated sea of diluted blood slowed him down, splatters of the liquid assaulted his face as his stomach flopped at the thought of blood. Splashing around unhelpfully Naruto felt disgusted as he thought about what Inu would think when he saw Naruto drenched in crimson liquid. He will leave me for sure. No I won't let him! Naruto screamed in his head which allowed his legs tap into an unknown source of power- with a fierce will.

Paddling through the dirty waters he finally saw a bright light at the end of corridor. His determination now renewed Naruto ploughed through the murky passageway only to notice the light had not grown any bigger with closeness.

"I see him..." A gravelly voice echoed in monotone, along the corridors.

"It's the demon..." The voice spoke again with a delusional laugh. Launching spears of fear into Naruto's soul. From the corner of his eyes he saw a brewing mist of shadowy figures surging towards him. Withering hands reaching out to clamp onto Naruto's limbs to prevent his escape. Detrimentally shivering to his bone the boy could only frantically paddle through the water as the liquid became more unfavourably viscous. Soon he could no longer move his legs as the level of the viscous substance began to rise and creep up to his abdomen. The ghouls approached Naruto as decaying wisps of rotting green delicately outlined the curve of Naruto's visage. The touch was cold and sharp like the edge of a knife made out of ice. Ghostly whispers tormented Naruto, playfully the voices chanted his worst fears like an exorcism meant to eradicate all evil beings.