A Little More Time...

FIFTEEN

The job that the boy was meant to lead Ryan to was an office-like room in Hell. Once they had walked into the room together, the boy ran off. Ryan was left alone in this new space.

He walked across the wood paneled floor, barely noticing the dull thud of his bare feet against it. There was a desk in front of him with a name plate written in cursive.

R. R. Nightmare giver

"Nightmare giver?" Ryan repeated, reaching out for the name plate.

"For now."

The empty voice made him jump, nearly knocking the nameplate off the desk completely. He turned to, once again, find the Soul Keeper standing behind him. His lower face was still consumed by the fidgeting shadows that coated his skin.

"Why do you keep showing up?" Ryan asked, taking a step back from where the creature stood. Memories faded of the Soul Keeper faded when he left, but felt stronger when the creature returned.

"I come to speak with you." The Soul Keeper replied, "You serve a greater purpose than this, Ryan Ross."

Ryan shook his head. "I'm away from Brendon and, apparently, I've got my own job. I'm fine with whatever purpose this is. I've changed just enough to terrify that son of a bitch." He looked down at his hands. Though it wasn't any staining to his skin, he still had blood on his hands. He had killed to have an upper hand against Brendon. He had achieved that. What other purpose did he need to serve?

"I need you, Ryan Ross." There was something to the way the Soul Keeper spoke those words that made Ryan shiver. The emptiness had been replaced by something dark. Something menacing.

Ryan looked back up at the creature. The darkness was climbing higher on his face, making his eyes look like burning red embers in the night. He felt unsettled by the new look of the creature. Why was the darkness spreading on his skin?

The Soul Keeper took a step towards Ryan, to which Ryan took a step back. He bumped against the desk behind him. "What do you want with me?" He turned his head to find a route of escape, but looking away from the Soul Keeper proved to be a mistake.

The Soul Keeper's freezing fingers locked themselves around Ryan's chin before he even realized the creature had moved. Ryan's head was forced forward as his bones were squeezed to the point of breaking.

"I need to spread my darkness, Ryan Ross." The Soul Keeper hissed as Ryan cried out in pain and attempted to pull away. "I need it to spread, so that I'm not consumed." He tilted his head, watching Ryan struggle in his grip. His eyes shined brightly through the dark that spread over his skin.

"I need to give it to someone powerful, so they do not let the darkness escape." The Soul Keeper's voice echoed in Ryan's head as tears weilded in his eyes from the pain. "You are strong, Ryan Ross, so I chose you."

Ryan blinked, letting two small tears roll from the corners of his eyes. So I chose you. "Is that why I couldn't collect my soul?" His words were muffled by the grip of the Soul Keeper, but they came out audible enough.

"That would have stolen from your power." The Soul Keeper responded as he pulled Ryan's face closer. "I needed you fresh from evil to accept evil." With those words, the darkness pulled away from the creature's skin. A blank expression rested underneath it.

Ryan's breathing picked up, becoming panicked gasps as the darkness flowed from the creature's fingertips and onto his skin. He expected a feeling like when Brendon's touch spread dark veins underneath his skin, but this was so much worse.

His mind didn't become fuzzy or consumed by a ringing, it began to darken. As the creature continued to hold on, Ryan felt his fight weaken. His reason behind the fight was blacked out. The life before this was blacked out. He felt himself become slowly blacked out.

Suddenly, he was released. He dropped to the ground like a ragdoll, hardly breathing as the darkness continued to seep into his being.

"You will need it for where your afterlife takes you, Ryan Ross." The Soul Keeper's voice was empty, once again. He stood above Ryan, watching the darkness seep into Ryan's skin rather than spread across it. The creature had hardly anything left on his own skin; there was just some smudges on his fingertips and a faint shadow on his neck. "You showed signs of being powerful in life, but you were of no use to me in life. I needed you here, which only took a slight influence over the other demon. He took the initial glory, but you eventually came right to me."

The Soul Keeper watched as the last of the darkness disappeared in Ryan's skin. Ryan became still on the ground. His eyes stared up at the ceiling, but there was nothing behind them.

For several minutes, he remained still. Then, slowly, a spark flickered in Ryan's eyes. His iris' began to glow red, shining with intensity. His chest rose as he inhaled a silent breath of air. He blinked slowly before shooting upright. His eyes were wide, but they didn't seem to register anything. He stared straight ahead, as if entranced.

The Soul Keeper stepped back, watching Ryan with his own ember eyes. "We will meet again soon, Ryan Ross." He spoke as the shadows of the room darted to him. They quickly coated the creature and he was gone.

Ryan remained still. Much time passed as the darkness that was now inside of him swirled around the area around his heart where his soul used to reside made itself at home. His mind was a blank sheet, slowly allowing minimal details to seep into Ryan's conscious.

He was being rewritten in the dark's image.

Ryan suddenly burst out laughing. It wasn't a happy laugh, however. It was the kind of laugh you heard from a mad man. The kind of laugh you heard after the mad scientist succeeded in their experiments.

It was a laugh that didn't belong to Ryan Ross.