Syd hesitated ever so slightly as she stepped off of the final stair. She was alone this time, having waited her turn to go into the room, having stood there, wondering what was going on down here, wondering if perhaps she really was dreaming. It was a lot like her dreams, mixed imagery from alien movies, glowing runes and high tech weapons, death, murder--

Her foot moved forward without her realizing it, heading towards the wall. The light flickered, making her glance over at it for a second before looking to the wall--the small tablets--once again. She reached up, her fingers barely grazing against the nearest one, and a whisper touched her ear. This... this didn’t feel like a dream.

This was where she was supposed to find someone that completed her. Was it some odd symbiotic life form? Something that would dwell inside of her, giving her unnatural abilities--

a deep, sensual voice said with a bit of amusement.

“Wh--what?” she asked, looking around.
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Beautiful. He could FEEL her across the room, that beautiful creature with so much insecurity. She wanted to be “complete” to be “loved.” It was delicious. Izadore mentally gritted his teeth as he sensed her look around, felt her touch another--one that wasn’t him. That wasn’t going to happen.

he said, teasing her. The little stutter that she did, the surprised sensation. Oh, it was his. All his.

“Darkling?” she repeated. “Where--who are you?” she asked, looking around the room. She stepped forward, one step, two steps, each step agonizingly slow for the weapon. Even if she was heading closer, she was still too far from him.

he whispered. She reached out, touching a few tablets to the right of him, running her fingers over them, trailing her touch, the touch he coveted so much, without hesitation. Then her fingers stopped, hesitating as she stared at his tablet. he begged.

---------

The words were like melted chocolate dripping over her nerve endings. She had never heard such a voice in her life, she thought, her hand frozen in the air, mere seconds from touching the tablet in front of her. It was disturbing, one part of her whispered, down right frightening to have a voice in her head that came from nowhere. But on the other hand--

the silky smooth voice whispered. She could see the picture now glowing faintly on the tablet. A crossbow. It was pretty, she thought, tilting her head slightly. She had always thought that crossbows were a very classy weapon. Silent, deadly--

Her fingers caressed the picture, and she jerked as it turned into the actual thing, nestled snugly in her hands, practically purring in her mind. For a second the world seemed to swirl around her. She staggered backwards, hugging the crossbow to her nonexistent chest, her eyes trying to focus as she gained her balance.

Mr. Chocolate whispered in her mind.

“What--what are you?” she asked, her eyes on the weapon but her mind trying to pinpoint the intruder. She could feel him in her mind, slipping, sliding through her thoughts, stretching out, as if he had been confined for far too long. In fact her entire mind seemed entrapped by this foreign being, making it a bit hard to focus on anything else.



“Ease adore?” Syd asked, trying to picture the word in her mind. It popped into view at the forefront of her thoughts. The word was scrawled in a beautiful handwriting, black and faintly glowing gold around the edges.

he purred.

Red crept up the back of Syd’s neck, flushing over her cheeks as she realized he had heard her nickname for him. “I ah, just couldn’t think of--“

Izy purred.

“Ye--yes?” she offered, more because it was expected of her than anything. It was odd, a bit overwhelming, even, but she held the crossbow tighter to her chest as she made her way up the stairs, hugging it, her fingers gently rubbing along the sides of the foregrip, Izy whispering teasingly in her mind.



She lowered her head as she came out of the cove, hiding behind her black hair as well as she could. For some reason she felt as if she had been doing something very, very naughty.