When the Clock's Hands strike ( Pandora Hearts Fanfiction ) > MAJOR EDIT <

Rewind

" Where ... am I again ? " I mumbled quietly to myself as I reached out a hand. I knew that no one would ever answer me, I knew that no one would even hear me no matter just how loud I screamed and shouted. It was better to keep silent  in this place but silence was scary. Even now, I could not be accustomed to this darkness. A darkness which held no warmth but it was not cold either, it was a darkness that shouldn't be touched too often, it was a darkness which would swallow you whole the moment you fell asleep here. 

" Ai ? You're sleeping here again ? You shouldn't wander around without telling me. The Abyss is the same everywhere so it gets very hard to find you, really Ai, you do love getting me worried don't you ? " the man smiled and wiped a bead of sweat with his sleeve as he grabbed me by the wrists and pulled me up to my feet easily. 

" Aaah ... but it's not like I'm going anywhere, Yuon, " I rubbed my eyes and he picked up the fallen doll at my feet, dusting it before handing it back to me. It was a rabbit doll or at least to me, it resembled a rabbit. It was the first thing that I had found here, the only thing left that wasn't broken. It was how I had met Yuon however, the doll had been from ' his area ' and being one of the more powerful chains, he had decided to make a certain area in th Abyss his own. I had asked whether that area would be fought over by others, he told me this Abyss was endless, there was only more and more darkness and no light so there wasn't really much worth to fight for. Everywhere was the same. 

" There are ... very dangerous Chains around, some of them will even snap your neck without any hesitation. Not all of them are like me who has manifested a human's body, the rest of them are insane creatures lusting for a soul, something which they can never acquire, " Yuon patted my head warmly and I looked around. A broken doll house, a floating table and two chairs, the head of a baby doll with its eyes open wide, I could not say how much longer I could still stay like this, to stay sane in a place like this. 

" Kekekekekekekekeee ~~ Hello there little girl, are you perhaps all alone ? " the Jack-in-the-box chattered as it sprung up from that tiny box for the fifteenth time. It was a toy I used to play with once, I remembered but barely. There would be something which you would wind around and around and then wait for it to pop up, this wasn't any different though it had a wider grin, a redder mouth and full black sockets. Its hands were twisted and gnarled and from each finger protruded a twisted black claw. 

" Who are you ? " it was a sensible question, to ask the name of that thing which didn't look human. I was told this place was somewhere where nobody could ever survive for three days in a row, where even the most evil would break down in just half an hour. This place served as a prison for the people who they couldn't detain in normal cells, it was a place with no escape, it was a place where no light shone, a place for those who were beyond help. 

" I'm nobody ~~ How about we become friends ? It gets lonely here and there's nobody to talk to right, little girl ? " the Jack-in-the-box hopped closer, springing itself up into my face and as natural reactions took over to such sudden occurences, all that was left was a broken box and a severed head. There was no blood to be spilt although my hands were black, the very same black as this Abyss. 

" Heeeey little girl ? Why did you do that ? Look, now I'm broken, I can't be fixed again, " the largest remain of the Jack-in-the-box bounced back, floating before my eyes, it's hands which were stained black were around my neck, tightening slowly but I couldn't pull away from that gaze which swallowed me into another never-ending darkness. 

" Really. Stop causing trouble in my territory unless you want to be exterminated, " a boy's voice and the hands were lifted in a second while I opened my eyes which I had squeezed shut just to meet a spray of more black as the head was cut into quarters. Then as it fell, a sharp blade attatched to a chain skewered through the pieces before a heavy black boot stomped on it and then dug deeper to make a foot-shaped mark on the white and black mess on the ground. Or at least it didn't look like it was floating and was on the same level as my feet were, this place which had no ground or ceiling.