A Little More Time...

THREE

"D-dead?" Ryan repeated, looking up at the man standing before him. He attempted to push himself up to his feet, but the man shook his head.

"None of that." He said with the flick of his wrist.

Metal clasps set around Ryan's wrists with a deafening snap! Ryan looked down as a trail of chains materialized, one link at a time, trailing down from his new bindings. He cried out as the links suddenly tugged him to a wall adjacent to the bed in the room. His body was slammed against it as the chains attached themselves to the ground. Ryan groaned, looking down in enough time to see the links shaking down into the the floor to hold him in place.

"Better." The man nodded before turning to the girl.

Ryan looked down at the chains in disbelief. What the hell!? He tugged at them, but they were solidly locked in place. How could something that materialized right before his eyes be so strong!?

"I'll let this time slip." The girl spoke to Brendon with a warning tone, "When you need me next, I'll take my payment for both visits."

"It will be my honor to provide you with essence." Ryan looked up as the man leaned down, raising her hand and kissing it with the gesture.

She smiled. "Always the gentleman for a witch?"

Witch? That girl was a witch? Ryan looked her up and down. She almost dressed like a child; a pale, blue dress covered her, decorated with pale, pink bows and ribbons. Seemed like strange attire for a witch.

"Only for you, Melanie." The man straightened, continuing to smile to her. "I'll see you soon."

"Until we meet again, Brendon." She winked before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"Holy shit!" Ryan exclaimed, trying to scoot himself against the wall more than he already was. He shouldn't have judged the witch by her clothing.

The man, Brendon, laughed again before turning to look at Ryan. "There's nothing holy about this place." He grinned, wickedly.

"Where is this place?" Ryan asked, attempting to tug at his new bindings again. No luck.

"Welcome to the land down under! And I don't mean Australia." Brendon walked over and kneeled down in front of Ryan, "Welcome to hell."

"Hell?!" Ryan croaked. He looked around the room again. This certainly didn't look like hell. Hell was supposed to be fire and torture; this looked like a rather plain hotel room.

"One of the better districts." Brendon explained, "There's many."

Ryan shook his head. "No, no, I can't be in hell. I was just-"

"Abducted and burned alive at my command?" Brendon asked, rubbing his nails against his shirt before dropping his arm to his side. He looked at Ryan with pure evil pouring from his eyes, "Yes."

Ryan's eyes grew wide. The figures that dug their nails in to his arms. The liquid that poured over him before the burning started. Ryan looked down at his arms, but there was nothing there but dull, red circles that looked to be about the size of finger prints. Had it really happened?

That was when the entirety of Brendon's words sank in. "On... On your command?"

Brendon almost couldn't contain his laughter. It echoed off of the walls of the room Ryan was now bound to. "Those idiots worship me." He sneered, "I asked, and they delivered."

Ryan couldn't believe what he was hearing. Worshipped. That was the word this guy used. Was he another witch? Or, was he something far worse...

"Why?" Ryan's voice came out soft. He was scared. He had actually burned to death. That was the furthest thing Ryan ever wanted happening to him. He wanted his passing to happen well into old age, perhaps in his sleep. He wanted to be able to tell people goodbye... Now he would be lucky if they could identify his charred corpse. "Why me?"

"Why?" Brendon repeated before snorting, "Because I was bored." His grin shifted to a smirk. "Why you?" He asked, lowly, leaning into Ryan's face with the repeated question, "Because you're the sorry son of a bitch they chose." He pulled away from Ryan's face, quickly standing and crossing the room.

Ryan was fixated on the empty space where Brendon had been. He had basically just been told that he died for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. His death wouldn't even have meaning; he was just another random missing person, taken from off the street. What would his family do, without knowing what became of him? What would his dog do when he didn't come home to care for her? What would he do, knowing he was dead and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it?

He looked down, feeling his breaths quicken their pace. He was dead. He couldn't be dead. He could hear the drum of his heartbeat in his ears. He was conscious of the world around him; if he was dead, shouldn't everything be over?

Ryan shook his head. This was too messed up. It couldn't be real...

"I hope you're not always this quiet." Brendon said as he walked back to the side of the bed where Ryan was chained. It looked like he held something in his closed fist as he walked closer with a shrug. "Or maybe I don't. Silence is golden."

"Are you dead too?" Ryan asked, ignoring Brendon's statement.

Brendon tilted his head at Ryan. "He speaks..." He trailed off as he sat down in front of Ryan. "He should know that I've been dead far longer than he was alive." His tone grew darker with each word he spoke, causing Ryan to shrink back yet again.

"I'll take that as yes." He somehow managed to speak despite his fear.

"You'd be right." Brendon reached out for Ryan with the hand that wasn't clenched into a fist.

Ryan shut his eyes tightly. When Brendon's fingers pressed against his skin, however, his eyes shot open and he sucked in a breath. The strange, tingling feeling was spreading through him again. There was a soft humming in Ryan's ears, replacing the drumming heartbeat. His eyelids dropped just slightly.

Just as quickly as the sensation started, however, it was gone. Ryan blinked, barely able to register Brendon's dark smirk.

"You'll be fun." Brendon laughed. Before Ryan could ask anything further, Brendon opened his fist and blew a new dust into his face.

Ryan coughed as he sucked in the dry grains of whatever that substance was. He felt dizzy. He felt tired. He felt himself falling through the air, landing on the ground with a thud. He could have sworn he heard another laugh from Brendon before everything went dark.