SHIFT 2 - Purgatory

What nightmares we create

"Nagisa!" Reginald cried out. He didn't dare yell too loudly.

As he assumed would happen, there was no answer. He sighed. This was Nagisa's world. Where would... Reginald paused.

This was Nagisa's world. The words wrapped around his mind. He glanced behind him. The old man in the picture, it was Nagisa. He had a friend draw it, what they thought he would look like as an old man. The wand... Nagisa had a wand and a sword. Reginald felt a little better. He would feel better knowing the kid wasn't close to passing out!

He sighed. Turning, he moved through the dark silent land. The tree house loomed before him. Would Nagisa have kept anything there? Should he waste time searching it? He needed to know just what this kid was thinking. With a sigh, Reginald went to the tree house.

It was old, moldy wood squeezed under his boots. Long tendrils of slimey vines touched his face. He pushed them away. Moving swiftly, to not put too much of his weight in any one place, Reginald dove into the main room. This looked cozy.

A fire was burning in the fire place. There was a hot mug, of something, steaming on the table. A soft looking couch faced the fire. Next to the fire sat an open chest. Reginald went to it. There were discarded books stacked outside of it. A used up blood bag. Reginald sighed, Nagisa was strengthening himslef! That was good..he wondered whose blood it was.

Sniffing it, he grinned. The boy was clever! This was human blood. But how did he keep it fresh? Witch magic? Reginald wanted to laugh at that. He poked through some other things. He saw an empty box. It looked long enough to have housed a sword. So he had a full sword, a wand and Mori's short sword. He had blood, possible food.

Looking over everything, Reginald did a quick calculation. Had the trunk been full, then a lot was missing. Possibly clothing, a bag to carry supplies, medical stuff or food, knowing his son. That was the problem though. Reginald didn't know his son. Not this one. Nagisa was an engima to him.

No matter how hard he tried to get to know the kid, the boy surprised him with something new. Nagisa was forever changing. He grew in ways, Reginald had never seen someone do. He wasn't sure if he could track the kid in this world. A world only the half vampire truly knew.

No, the watcher wouldn't be here. Reginald had come to the wrong place. Nagisa had come to supply himself. He didn't know what he was up against. Maybe, some part of him, knew it wasn't Clydesworth. Maybe the kid was smarter than Reginald gave him credit for. It didn't matter though, he was still a kid. A child, a baby to the thing that was coming for him. Reginald needed to hurry!

He turned sprinting out of the treehouse. Where would Nagisa go next? Where was the back door? He ran through the swampy, murky land. Why had Nagisa made it like this? Dark, evil, demented. Did the kid see his home this poorly? Reginald felt a pain in his chest. Was Nagisa always this lonely? He pondered. He always associated color, light, brightness with his youngest, not this depressing place.

The swamp gave way after some time. Reginald slowed. This was different. There was something off about the eerie flowing yellow light. He inched forward. This wasn't of Nagisa's making. This was the trap. Reginald stopped. Damn it! He knew what his son had fallen into. He had to get back to the mansion before they killed Nagisa!

He raced across the murky land once more. Following the path he had just made. He had to reach the mansion in time! What if Ryu saw! The dragon shifter would surly do whatever he could to free the half vampire. Yet, in his mind the way to free him, was going to shatter Nagisa's life. The fear that sprang up inside him, fueled his flight. Before he knew it Reginald was back at the painting.

At the mansion, Ryu had left the room he was protecting. He had looked inside to ensure Wyvern and the children were, in fact, not in there. He didn't know where they could have gone, but he was sure Krystal would care for them. There was something about Nagisa's mother. He was sure, too many people underestimated her! He smirked, now he could fight.