When Hell Froze Over

Day Five: Running with the Devil

We arrived in front of the hotel room, cherry red sheets and blankets, snow white pillows and light gold walls. The girls were staking claim over the various items in the room (and who would pay for the snacks from he mini fridge). I just flopped on the bed and lied still, the softness beckoned my body to sleep, but I resisted from doing so. Riko flopped on top of me and giggled, it was kind of cute... in a painful way. Mio sat next to us and shoved Riko off of me. Hissing came out of her, like a cat that is defending territory. Mio shrugged it off and gently ran her fingers through my hair. I smiled softly, the gesture was calming, relaxing for something so minor. My body weakened more, sleep called more, and it was deafening. My resistance was shattered, and I fell into the grasp of sleep. A familiar scene was before me, a lake... cold and nearly still waters banked by gravel shores... and a boy standing still. He walked closer to the center of the lake, not trying to swim. The water enveloped him, almost pulling him faster. The vision only blurred as I tried to call out to the child. The last thing I heard before my awakening was "Find the pearl."

I jolted up and was panting hard. Riko and Mio weren't in the room, which was for the best. The blankets and parts of the room were frozen solid. My hands were cased in ice, crackling as I moved them. I sighed and slapped the blankets hard. The ice shattered and the noise rang as though glass had ben shattered instead. Soon it started to dissipate, the room door swung open violently as the girls crashed through. "What happened?! What broke?!", Mio shouted looking frantically for any damages. Riko walked to me and looked at my hands. She looked over every little detail of my skin. She sighed and grabbed Mio to stop her from scampering and looking for something tgat didn't exist. "Ice demon... or something more sinister?...", Riko inquired. I stared at her, unemotional and held my tongue. All I did was stare into her gaze, as though I hadn't heard a thing. Slowly my grip of my surroundings came back. Riko.... was blushing dark red and avoiding eye contact with me. Thank Lady Luck I have the whole "romantic gaze" thing to clear up a situation every now and then.

Mio got jealous and glomped Riko down, then she hugged me tightly. I slowly snapped back to reality Mio's warmth was welcoming and somehow cheerful. I looked at her with a soft smile and caressed her cheek gently. Her gaze matched mine as she leaned closer, rosy cheeks illuminating her features. I slowly raised my own head. Her eyes closed slowly and pillowy lips puckered slightly. I gulped nervously and closed my eyes as well. I felt pressure on my lips.... It was a rigid pressure.... almost like someone pressed their finger against my lips. I opened my eyes and saw Mio blushing a dark red similar to wine amd her finger over my mouth. I pulled back and laughed softly. "Shy much?~"

I never told the girls about my nightmare. I don't think I ever will to frank about it. We all walked out of the room and started walking back to campus. The sun was about to set and I looked at my phone. A text was received three minutes ago, from Golden Butler. It could be summed up as 'we need another worker on hand'. The part that really sucked was the fact that I had to be there in the next twenty-seven minutes! I told the girls this and they both had a disappointed look but nodded in understanding and headed back, arguing about something along the way.

I arrived at the Golden Butler with six minutes to spare. I got suited and was assigned to tend to the customers. I walked around almost aimlessly, talking and filling requests as per usual. I came to a booth at the corner of the store and saw only one person sitting there. They wore a blue hood over their head...and black pants. The patron didn't move, he only spoke and in a most chilling way.

"Weird to see myself outside of Purga...."