A Little More Time...

FIVE

Ryan wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He scrambled to his feet with a rushed thank you before moving to the door Brendon had indicated. He didn't need to pee, at first, but suddenly his bladder demanded relief. He slipped into the room, shut the door with his back pressed against it, and locked it.

He looked around the room he was in, noting that it was like some kind of hotel bathroom as much as the other room looked like a hotel. Much to his dismay, however, there were no windows. At least he was away from him.

Relieved breaths followed the thought. He wasn't with Brendon in here. He was in his own space and not chained...

He rubbed and flexed his wrists with a soft sigh. That felt better, but there was something else he needed to do in order to make his bladder feel better as well. A quick jiggle of the doorknob, just to be sure it locked, and Ryan was at the toilet.

Taking care of that issue took virtually no time at all. Ryan quickly found himself standing at the sink and gazing at his reflection in the mirror.

His hair was messy and unkept, though it was understandable under his circumstances. His shirt was singed in the collar, and small holes specked the fabric revealing his skin.

His skin.

His skin looked... Pinker than he remembered it. He leaned closer in the mirror to get a better look.

"Your burns haven't fully healed."

Ryan jumped at the sound of Brendon's voice. He spun around, seeing the demon casually leaning against a wall. He grinned as he caught Ryan's eye.

"What? I waited for you to finish."

"My burns?" Ryan stepped back, being met by the sink pushing into his lower back. "You mean from..."

"Your death." Brendon spoke as if it was the most casual topic to discuss, "That's what a lot of Melanie's magic was helping during her visit the other day."

Brendon stepped over to Ryan, leaving him nowhere to go. The sink was right up against a wall, and Brendon stood on the side that opened to the rest of the bathroom.

"What do you want from me?" Ryan asked, almost ready to hop on the sink's counter in order to get away from Brendon.

The demon smiled. "Easy. First, I want those nasty burns healed." He reached out to touch Ryan again, but stopped just short of his skin. "Second, I want to help."

"Help?" Ryan questioned through his flinch. He didn't want Brendon to touch him, but he had nowhere to escape and no excuses left to make.

Brendon nodded. "Yes. Help."

"H-how can the demon that got me killed help me?" Ryan's hands slipped from the sink's counter, banging against the cabinet below. He held back a surprised yelp in favor of patting his hand back to grasp the counter again. He wanted to just sink into the solid surface. He wanted the comfort of space between himself and Brendon.

Brendon smirked, not caring about Ryan's apparent discomfort. "Help you in this after life. I brought you here, so I feel obligated." He stressed the last word, making Ryan cringe. "Look in the mirror."

"No." Ryan didn't want to turn his back on the demon. Every instinct warned against it.

A low growl rumbled from within Brendon's chest, but he maintained a calm smile. "Just, turn and look in the mirror." He said slowly, letting his fingertips brush along Ryan's jawline.

Ryan's eyes fluttered shut. That tingling seemed to send static impulses through him, numbing his senses. Before he knew what was happening, he was looking at himself in the mirror. Brendon stood behind him, radiating an aura of darkness as he wickedly grinned. There was something almost insane about his expression, leaving Ryan to look at a fearful reflection of his own.

"This has all been quite scary for you, hasn't it, Ryan?" Brendon cooed, looking at Ryan through the mirror in front of them. "Your worst nightmare, followed by a fast pass to my room in hell. Leaves you feeling helpless, doesn't it?"

Ryan didn't want to answer. The only thing that could come of an answer would be something sinister.

"Wouldn't you like to be like me?" He continued to eye Ryan in the mirror. His eyes, Ryan noticed, were beginning to shift. The flecks of yellow were expanding over his brown iris. As Ryan watched the strangeness of the demons eyes, he felt his legs begin to shake.

The rest of his body was immobile. He couldn't move. He sucked in a sharp breath, but Brendon shushed him. The yellow was gone now, replaced by total darkness.

"Wouldn't you like to truly be like me?"

"N-no." Ryan tried to shake his head, but he couldn't. His body was frozen except for his shaking legs.

Brendon stepped closer. His face was practically cheek to cheek with Ryan. He could feel the demon's breath on his skin, warm and moist. "Are you sure about that, Ryan?" He asked lowly as he pressed his hand against Ryan's cheek.

Still staring at the reflection in front of him, Ryan gasped. From where Brendon's skin made contact with his, dark black veins spread under Ryan's skin. Ryan watched as a few strains of the veins trailed to his eyes, filling them completely with black. With that, the tingling became an unbearable ringing in his brain.

Ryan was still frozen, however. He couldn't try and push the smirking demon away as the black veins traveled down his neck and under his singed shirt.

"So tell me, Ryan." Brendon laughed from deep within his chest, much like his growl earlier. "What were you into while you were alive?"

Somehow, the ability to move his head freely was granted to Ryan. He moved it from side to side, still staring at the mirror. He felt so wrong... The ringing...

Brendon suddenly pulled his hand away. Ryan gasped, dropping to the floor. He coughed uncontrollably, unable to regain his breath. He could hear laughter, but it sounded distant. His ears were still dully ringing.

"It's interesting inside of your head." Brendon mused as Ryan managed to support himself on all fours, "You really hate not having control over things, don't you?"

Ryan gasped on more air in response. He looked at his hands, halfway expecting to see black veins spread like spilled ink under his skin, but there was nothing. Had... Had he imagined it?

"Do you think you can control this right here by ignoring me?" The air shifted around Ryan. Brendon must have kneeled down next to him. The demon hummed softly.

Before Ryan had fully regained his breath, Brendon's hand was holding Ryan's jaw, tightly. His nails dug into Ryan's skin, much like the hands that held up just before his death. Ryan tried to pull away, but the ringing was numbing his brain of anything other than the thing keeping its grip on him.

Brendon tilted Ryan's head up, so that he could smirk directly into his blank, black eyes. "Why don't you try letting go of those futile attempts at control?" He asked before roughly pulling Ryan forward and crashing their lips together.