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 Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:25 pm
She woke up with that sense of dread in her stomach. Usually it took seconds, even minutes after one’s eyes opened first thing in the morning for the subconscious bile of overwhelming fear to fill the holes, but not today.
It had lingered from last night. Stayed in the crevices of her body until her joints began twitching to signal it was time to face judgment day. This was it. Go for broke. Make it or break it. No possible time to turn back. All the things she had failed to do to brace herself were now just rubble of worry in comparison to the earthquakes that were her footsteps towards the closet.
You only wore your best suit to such an occasion. When you face your maker, only the best in your wardrobe will do. Riyo had many suits, but there was one she had saved. One she kept pristine for the day she knew would rear its ugly head someday. Slim fitting, slick, and as black as the shadows during a new moon.
Her cats watched. All of them. Silently staring as one button after another was fixed. As the cufflinks were carefully adjusted. As the bright red tie was set into place. Suave didn’t even begin to describe the demoness. That is, if you didn’t look at her face.
The shoes? Just as sleek and formal if not moreso, but she wasn’t going to wear those. Her red shoes had returned, though the circumstances had been… Less than favorable. They stood out like a sore thumb from the rest of the ensemble, adding a sort of ladylike class to a suit that was basically genderless. Maybe after it was over and she could stir up the courage to face Titus, she could try to get back what he stole again…
After all this was over. The thought hit her like this was some kind of war. Like each side had a fair chance of winning. As if, at the end of the day, she’d be patting herself on the back saying ‘good job soldier’ and the return home would be shrouded in hats thrown to the sky by their owners. No, it was nothing of the sort.
She was fully dressed. The cab was waiting outside the dorms, but one thing was left to be tended to.
Shakily, the ghoul grabbed a quill pen, her hand unwillingly scribbling down the words she didn’t want to say. “Should this note remain on my door by weeks end, please help yourself to anything in my room. I probably won’t be coming back at that point. I’m sorry for not saying goodbye.
Sincerely,
Riyo”
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Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:28 pm
It was a cold, unfeeling note. She didn’t want to make it heartfelt. She didn’t want to risk hurting any of them more than she already might have. The writing was sloppy, obviously done with great strain. An inkblot at the bottom gave away the fact that her hand had slipped while trying to replace the feather in the inkjar.
It was promptly nailed to her formally spotless door, and the gateway was left cracked open. “Feel free to leave, guys.” The ghoul mumbled to her numerous feline friends.
Felix just stood there, looking up at her with a stare that couldn’t have been anything other than ‘how could you do this to me?’ It crushed Riyo to see him waiting for some kind of explanation to her betrayal, when all she could really say was, “Don’t wait for me too long.”
The feline’s hands folded in her pockets as she began to walk through the hall, stopping for a few seconds at the door of a certain nightmare demon. Her knuckles rose to give it a knock. It was early in the morning. Would he be there? Be awake? He didn’t sleep, did he? Maybe the boil would like to go with her. See the things she’d been hiding.
… No. No he didn’t. He had only been humoring her prom night because she made such a big fuss. He only wanted her around for the things he couldn’t do by himself, and apparently she was lucky to even have those. That much was obvious now. Like a dog running away to lick its wounds, her hand retreated back into the pocket from whence it came.
Long, painful steps dragged her down to the cab. Mentally she was kicking and screaming. She wanted to be alright with this, but there was only so much she could take. Even a sound mind struggled with such things, so what could she expect of herself?
The driver was unsurprisingly cold, just as the drive was unsurprisingly long. The feline hadn’t brought reading material or some form of entertainment along with her. She knew there would be too much on her mind to concentrate on anything else. So she simply watched as the scenery changed. It went from the city limits, to the country, to yet another smaller city. And with each mile the feline put inbetween her and Amityville, the deeper her heart sank. This was necessary, though. This would be the first step to becoming something she wanted to be… Whatever that was. It was her chance to start being alright with herself, so that she could in turn know who she was and be better for them.
Right?
If she held onto that notion…
Everything would be fine…
Except for the fact that as soon as that ugly white building came into view, everything stopped. Her mind. Her heart. Her body. That wretched lack of color was enough to drain the sanity out of anyone. It took the driver over five minutes to pry her from the back seat, claim his money, and leave her there.
That’s right. She was alone now. A small ant standing on a castle-sized problem. No cats. No friends.
It was just Riyo. Just Riyo and the shattered pieces of her broken kingdom that she had yet to rebuild.
This was it.
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Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:51 pm
The 7th Circle Asylum...
The automatic doors unceremoniously slid open, and immediately the smell of bleach and urine hit her like a punch to the face. It was just like in her dreams. Shadows of doctors and nurses slid by. She didn’t seem to even bleep on their radar even with her black-clad body standing in the middle of the entrance. She contrasted everyone and everything there.
“May I help you, Miss?” A deep masculine voice called to the obviously discombobulated ghoul in the fancy suit.
“Huh?” The feline squeaked, immediately losing all traces of her usually confident air.
“… May I help you?” There at the desk stood a large minotaur in a lab coat with glasses that seemed unfitting to such a giant. One could imagine his family might’ve had certain reservations about his career choice.
“M-my name is Riyo Felis.” The demoness immediately forced herself back out of the hole, though she refused to fully leave. Her motions, her expression; they were all quite puppet like. “I’ve come here because you won’t leave me alone.”
The Minotaur looked at his clipboard and adjusted the disturbingly thick frames. “Oh, uh yes! We apologize for the inconvenience Miss Felis-“
“Call me Riyo.” The ghoul interjected, though it obviously wasn’t to be friendly. There was something that enraged her about being called by her last name. Most likely because she tried to forget her lineage on a good day.
“Er… Miss Riyo then.” That was better. “We apologize for the inconvenience.” It was an empty apology. “We actually called you here to talk about Mrs. Felis’s condition.”
“I’m quite aware of that. It’s not like you send me semi-threatening letters to talk about the weather.” The ghoul folded her arms. His stupidity was restoring her confidence little by little, and for a big man, he seemed quite skittish.
“W-well, Miss Riyo. It seems… She’s been getting better.” The beast glanced from the clipboard to the young ghoul’s face, waiting on some sort of reply.
Getting… Better?
What did that mean? Anne had been a terrible person from the start. What was she getting better at? Riyo’s face blanked out at the news, her eyes unnaturally wide. “I don’t understand what that means.” She admitted point blank.
“Well, er… Allow me to call in the doctor in charge of her. His name is Dr. Ratford.”
And for obvious reasons. He was a gangly looking man with some relation to a rodent evident in his facial features. The long, flesh toned tail that dragged behind him was also a dead giveaway. He was in the lobby in a matter of seconds. “Ah yesssss. The famously successful daughter. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, my dear.”
“The pleasure is all yours…” Riyo admitted. Honesty had never been her strong suite, but she was finding it more relieving to blurt out whatever came to her in this situation. Though, this wasn’t the original doctor she had left her mother in the care of.
“Ah,well then.” Dr. Ratford apparently had no qualms dealing with such a person. “This way, Miss Riyo.”
They were going there. They were going to that woman’s room. Riyo felt her chest tighten up like someone was pulling the strings on an invisible corset. This was it. After almost six years of living alone, she was going to see the woman who blessed her with all her social anxieties.
The feline watched as they walked past the rooms of other patients. Some were rather quiet, while others stormed through their rooms like animals. “And here she is.”
Wait, what?
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Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:57 pm
Riyo had to do a double take, as she was ready to walk past the door they specified. A lone figure sat on their respective bed, facing the wall so that her face was out of sight. Long blonde hair hung from their head. The only thing that might’ve hinted towards the fact that it was the same woman was a luxurious white tail swaying gently back and forth.
… Long blonde hair…
“All aggressive tendencies have stopped.” Ratford interrupted the ghoul’s thoughts, though she dare not pull her eyes away from the figure. “She’s become quieter. More coherent. We’re starting to think the after-effects of the hex were prolonged, but temporary.”
Riyo knew it hadn’t just been the hex spell. Her mother had never been in her right mind. Her eyes narrowed on the unmoving figure. Both fear and apprehension had their claws dug deeply into her.
“You should go talk to her. I think you’ll find that she’s not the same woman.”
“I’m not going in there alone.” Riyo quickly retorted.
“Look, you have my promise that nothing bad will come of you. We will have men standing outside the door at all times.”
Riyo stood in silence as the man named Ratford scooted closer. “Listen. I’ve read the case file many times. I know this must be hard-“
“Don’t you dare pity me.” The words seethed out of Riyo’s mouth like miasma, shooting Dr. Ratford a glare he would not soon forget. The monster took two steps back and rubbed his hands together nervously.
This was what they wanted her here for? To prove her mother was still insane? It was like some kind of cruel joke from fate. A dare to either let this woman go free or suffer at the hands of her one. Last. Time.
And what would happen if it was too much? If in Riyo’s fragile state, she couldn’t handle the abuse her mother so eagerly waited to dish out? Would she suffer this exact same fate? The fate she was supposed to have in the first place?
“Open the door.” Something had to change.
Much like one would expect, the heavy door creaked open. One could feel the FEAR suppression hard at work in the cell much more than it had been just outside. Not only was Riyo alone now. She was helpless and alone. Standing in the doorway just as she had six years ago, to a woman who was facing away from her.
The feelings flooded into her. They hit her like bricks. Four walls. Four small walls, a bed, and a table with two chairs were all that decorated the room. No art. No wallpaper. It was so white you had to look down at your skin to make sure you hadn’t gone color blind. This was her nightmare. This was the very thing that terrified her and haunted her subconscious mind, threatening to tear that last meager shred of fabric from her sanity.
This was her nightmare, and she was facing it.
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Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 3:05 pm
No words were spoken. Truth be told, Riyo didn’t have the strength to say anything right now. The chair she pulled out squeaking across the linoleum did the talking for her.
White ears perked at the sudden intrusion of sound in an otherwise silent room. “They told me you were coming.” A soft voice cooed, which made Riyo’s spine shiver. “I didn’t think you would. I figured they were just trying to make me feel better… But here you are.”
… Feel better?
Riyo’s eyes stayed trained on the figure. She was waiting anxiously to see a sharp object thrown her way. It seemed that wouldn’t be necessary, though. What happened instead was much more damaging.
The figure turned, and Riyo was faced with…
A reflection.
The bags under this woman’s eyes were bigger, and her feline-like features were different in color, but this was… Her.
Their outfits made Riyo look like the evil side of a conscience; a suave devil sitting, waiting for the angel in a pale blue to have a seat at their table while they discussed the whole situation of the person that was their charge.
Riyo didn’t know how to feel. It was as if the dictionary that translated her thoughts was thrown straight out the window as she saw with her own eyes something that didn’t make sense.
“I’ve missed you, my darling child.”
No, this was not how it was supposed to go. Her mother was supposed to yell at her. Scream. Tell her how bad of a person she was for putting her in here. The feline could deal with something of that capacity. Not this.
Casually the figure approached, bare feet gently tapping the cold floor underneath them. The woman did not sit in the opposing chair as she was supposed to. No, she walked behind Riyo and placed her hands on the ghoul’s shoulders. Now she could only feel her there, and that made it so much worse.
“Now that you’re here, we can get back to where we left off.” Anne’s voice was hushed, almost soothing as if she was talking to a small child. For anyone watching, it looked like a heartfelt reunion. For Riyo, it was the definition of terror, and the evidence was on her face plain as day. “That’s what you want, isn’t it? We could be a family.” The woman’s smile… It was so unsettling.
Meanwhile, Riyo had checked out and made a good nest in the corner of her mind, away from the chaos and devastation. It was the rocky bottom. The one she had yet to crawl out of, because she realized that the top of the cliff might be just as dangerous.
“Hey.” A familiar little ghoul stood in front of her, bare footed with caked on blood and dirt between her toes. “You know she’s lying… Right?”
Riyo, curled up in a ball as low to the ground as she could possibly be, looked up at her former self. “What. Don’t you want a mommy after all these years?” The ghoul practically spat, glaring up at the child who was telling her what she already knew.
“No.” The child immediately replied. “I want people who actually care about me. Just cause she’s my Mother doesn’t mean I have to be stupid…”
“Well what if she’s really alright, huh? What if this was what we’ve been wanting all this time?!”
At that, the small ghoul smiled. “There are no happy endings, Riyo.”
Just as the feline was about to lose all hope, mini-her gave a little shrug. “You don’t want an ending anyways, right? You want a beginning. And it’s something only we can do for ourselves.”
Yes. That was right. It was time for a new beginning.
“You know how to set her off. Just think about it.”
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Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 3:10 pm
It seemed Riyo snapped back to reality at just the right time.
“I can go right back to running the company and you can have your freedom.”
The company. Yes, that’s what all this was about. The only thing she wanted was the company. The company was the only thing she really loved, and that was exactly how Riyo could get to her. This… This would be cheating at its finest.
Taking in a deep breath, Riyo set her hands on the table and tapped her fingers, trying to build up the gumption to do what she needed to. “Oh. Yeah. The company…” It was said in such a way to make her mother WELL aware that there was something wrong with her little plan, and seemed to make the woman freeze for a moment. “W-what about the company?” The hands were removed from Riyo’s person, and the seat was promptly taken at the other end of the table. “Well, see…” The ghoul’s fingers interlocked. “Unfortunately, the company fell on hard times.” It hadn’t. “Eventually the only thing left for me to do was to chop it up into little pieces and sell it off like a sickly cow. There’s nothing left of it, Mother. It’s gone.”
A long pause of silence followed Riyo’s lie, the unchanging look on her mother’s face unsettling.
“What. You expected me to run it all by myself? Nothing I ever did was good enough for you. Why would it be this time?”
More silence.
“You didn’t think… That years of treating everyone around you so poorly wouldn’t come back to bite you some day?” This felt good. This felt better than good. Like her years of suffering were going to be justified in those mere seconds that passed.
It felt good until she got hit with a chair, at least.
“YOU!” Her mother screeched like a harpy, teeth bared like some kind of rabid animal. “YOU FILTHY LITTLE WHORE. HOW DARE YOU TALK BACK TO ME LIKE THAT!”
Riyo heard the sound of people rushing in just as her mother grabbed her by the throat while she lay on the ground from the chair. The hair from her older twin draped down, shrouding the two faces. She could see the flecks of insanity in her mother’s eyes.
“YOU’RE THE ONE WHO SHOULD’VE BEEN HERE! NOT ME! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT. YOU’RE A TERRIBLE PERSON, RIYO. A WORTHLESS PIECE OF s**t.”
She slammed Riyo’s head into the ground a few times before two burly men were able to pull her away. The ghoul looked up at her mother, a little dazed, before she finally smiled. “And… What does that make you for creating me?” It was all she could say before another employee managed to cart Riyo out of the room, fading in and out of consciousness while listening to her mother shout obscenities.
The feline came to about two hours later, when night had set on the town. Millions of apologies were immediately extended, but all the ghoul could do was stare angrily. “I want you. To get me the papers that allow me to sign that woman over so I NEVER have to come back again. That can be your Jackforsaken apology to me.”
It didn’t seem like they had a problem doing that now. The feline sloppily signed her papers and left as fast as she possibly could. So she had a head injury? It was just a fleshwound! The worst of the day was over. She’d fought the battle and finally won the war. Moreover, her lie had made her realize how easily she could get out of her predicament now.
There was only one problem. Well, two really. The cab driver wasn’t back. He’d probably come and left while she was out. And, oh yeah. She didn’t have a phone. The device had been broken against Titus’s head.
Well s**t.
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