A small girl ran for her life down the dusty, cracked hallway as a flash of lightning set the room ablaze with light through the open door behind her that led outside. A loud crack of thunder shook the frame of the building, stunning her for a moment. She was gasping for air, wheezing and panting in pain and exhaustion. This had been pretty much par for the course all night long. Ever since she, her older brother, and all his friends got zapped into Heavenly Host Elementary school, it had been non-stop danger at every turn. At this point, the fact that the school had Heaven in its name was just cruel irony for anyone who got stuck here. To make matters worse, her big brother had all but vanished! Where was he? She was as terrified for him as she was for herself.

        Nothing was at it seemed here, and one could not always trust what their five senses told them in this cursed and haunted school. Even the other people trapped with her could be every bit as dangerous as the ghost, a fact she had discovered the hard way only a few minutes before. Oh, how she wished her big brother would come and save her from this crazy guy! Only too late had she seen his true face. He was a sociopathic monster without any regard for anyone else's life. Now he was coming to kill her. She had to get away, she had to find big brother no matter what! She kept running, but she didn't even get three feet before she caught her foot under a partially loose floorboard. She tripped and fell hard on her face. She managed to push herself part of the way up, but instantly froze in shock and surprise at what was before her eyes.

        Not two inches in front of her face, was the largest rat that she'd ever seen. She let out an audible squeal of fright and shrank back. This thing must've been nearly two feet long including its long reptilian-like scaly tail covered with sparse fur which was curled around the left side of its rotund body. It had matted and greasy-looking black fur all over its body and head, which made the exposed skin on its four feet seem pallid and snow-white. Like all rats, it had disturbingly human-like front paws and a curved claw like an eagle's talon on the end of each digit. The rodent's only redeeming quality was its rather adorable face. It had a fairly short and straight snout for a rat, so it lacked the sinister hooked-nose appearance that some of its kind had. It also had very round and innocent looking eyes, even though they were actually darker than its fur if that was even possible. They seemed even blacker than the darkest of nights, and yet there was an odd softness to them. Its small rounded ears situated on top of its head helped complete its appearance and give it a face that would have some people trying to hold the animal in any other situation. The two stared at each other for a brief moment, waiting for the other to make a move. The rat's black whiskers were flickering back and forth rapidly as the rat sniffed the air and cocked its head. It was almost surreal to see another type of living creature in this dreadful place.

        "Yuuuka!" Called a sinister voice that snapped her back to reality. She had to move. The rat heard it as well and immediately reared up onto its hind legs, tilting its head up and making a soft chattering squeak. Suddenly it turned and fled, scurrying down the hall somewhere and vanishing.

        "I'm gonna kill you, Yuka!" He stated loudly. She gasped in pain from her fall and a powerful kick to the stomach he'd dealt her earlier as she stood up. She ran down the hall as fast as her legs would carry her, desperate to find a means of escaping his clutches. Where was Satoshi? Where was her big brother? Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she moved. She didn't get very far before she saw something that made her stop dead in her tracks again.

        Out of one of the doorways in front of her on the left side of the hall stepped the ghostly visage of a little girl clad in a tattered dress as red as blood. She couldn't have been older than seven. Her body was slightly transparent and emanated a soft eerie blue light. Her head was covered by a mop of disheveled straight black hair. Her eyes were wide open but had a glassy and soul-less look to them. She turned right towards the terrified junior high schooler and extended her hand, beckoning her.

        "This way! Hurry!" She said in a concerned tone. Her voice had a high and reassuring pitch to it.

        "Oh, Yuuuka!" Kizami shouted. "I see you! I'm coming to get you!" He laughed like a manic as he approached,

        With terror in her eyes Yuka turned and saw Kizami at the other end of the hall walking slowly towards her, blood splattered on his white button-up shirt and face. His short black hair was somewhat messy, his red blazer was over his shoulder, and his shirt was unbuttoned at the top, giving him sort of a unkempt and savage appearance. His handsome face was now wild with intensity, and his dark eyes that were once so full of concern and kindness now had nothing but cold primal bloodlust. In his hand was a blood soaked hunting knife.

        Yuka shrieked and ran towards the apparition of the girl in red. The girl turned and started to walk towards the doorway to the staircase but stopped as someone else stepped out from the shadows and over the threshold. It was another teenage boy that Yuka did not recognize. Her situation might be about to worsen again. He had messy black hair like Kizami's but his was slightly longer and looked as though some attempt had been made to brush or comb it recently. His eyes were blue like an ocean, and he had a somewhat perplexed expression on his face. He was a couple of inches shorter than Kizami, but had a much more charismatic and authoritative presence about him him. Unlike every other person Yuka had seen thus far, he was not wearing a school uniform. He was however, dressed to the nines with a perfectly spotless black long sleeved dress shirt, a dark blue formal vest over that, and a tie of the same shade of blue under his shirt collar. He was wearing charcoal colored pants with a black leather belt that had a shiny silver buckle. In addition, he was wearing black leather dress shoes. Around his left wrist was a silver watch with a deep blue interior and white Roman numerals. He was oozing class and style, but was he an ally or an enemy?

        "What in the world is going on out here?" He asked loudly as he walked right past the girl in red as though she didn't even exist. She didn't move, and didn't seem that phased by his rather sudden appearance either. He took a look around and noticed Yuka nearby him, frozen in fear. Now that someone else had shown up, she didn't know what to do anymore. Then he turned and saw Kizami brandishing his knife and casually strolling right towards them.  His confused expression became one of disgust.

        "Who the hell are you?" Kizami asked, stopping for a moment and regaining some of his former composure. "You don't look like a school student. You don't even look Japanese."

        "Give your name first," the boy replied cooly.

        "Yuuya Kizami."

        "Yuuya Kizami, hm. Just call me Ater. Caedus Ater, everyone else does." When he spoke his voice had a powerful quality to it, and the words seemed to slide over his tongue very smoothly. They were carried by a hint of an accent that sounded perhaps like Spanish or Italian, maybe even Portuguese, but not really like any of the three.

        "So you are a foreigner! So now people from all over the world are getting pulled in here. This is fuckin' fantastic!" He laughed sadistically, flipping the knife in his hand.

        "We're in an alternate dimension, which technically makes all of us 'foreigners,' does it not?"        

        Kizami shrugged his shoulders and cocked his head to one side for a second. "Good point. Not that I care. Now, outta my way!"

        "What pray-tell, would happen if I were to answer with: 'no'?"

        "What are you fucking stupid?! I'll kill you that's what'll happen!"

        Caedus just raised and eyebrow and crossed his arms without the slightest hint of fear or nervousness. In fact, he was smiling slightly. Yuka was wondering if he really was stupid like Kizami said. He was staring down a madman with a knife, but he appeared as if he couldn't care less.

        "Get away from him!" She screamed at Caedus. "He'll do it! Just run aw-" He extended out a hand to her like a stop-sign, silencing her. What was he thinking? He should be running for his life!

        "Oh, if I had a quarter for every time I've heard that line," the other teen finally stated, rolling his eyes. "I'd be dead from an overdose of cliches. You're not the first person to say that to me, and you won't be the last, either. If you could pull it off then you: A.) wouldn't be trying to murder little girls, and B.) wouldn't be having such a hard time of murdering said little girls in the first place."

        Kizami's eyes narrowed and his maniacal grin became a frown. "You know, if you had just walked away, I might've actually let you go. Bu-"

        "You lie poorly," Caedus chuckled. "I know your type. You'd hunt me to the ends of this school because I even considered trying to stop you."

        "Don't talk like you know me! You're just like all the others. Thinking you understand me, thinking you're so much better than me and that you know how I 'ought' to behave. Well, you don't! I'll do what I want, when I want!"

        "You're right, I don't know you," he said, adjusting his tie. "Nor do I have any desire to. Let me be clear, your motives are not the problem. You're trying to kill this girl, which would condemn her to eternal pain, and that is something I will not allow."

        "You can't stop me, you dumbass!"

        "Perhaps, perhaps not. I don't want to hurt you, but having said that I will if necessary. If you want to get to her, then you're going to have to deal with me first."

        "Are you for real, man?" Kizami laughed. "You gotta be fucking kidding me! I'm the one holding the knife and you're threatening me?! Who do you think you are acting so high-and-mighty? You're like my bitch of a sister! Let's see how you big you talk when I cut you in half, asshole!" With that he immediately rushed towards him with his knife hand outstretched like a crazed bull charging in to gore a matador.

****

        Caedus shifted one of his legs back behind him and took what Yuka assumed to be some form of fighting stance. His arms were raised in front of him, his left being just a bit further out than his right. Kizami got within striking distance and sliced through the air, aiming right at Caedus's throat, but the other kid easily ducked under his arm and spun around to his side. He grabbed Kizami at the elbow of his outstretched arm, and by the back of his head and proceeded to guide his momentum around his body in a turning motion before throwing him into a nearby wall.

        Kizami stumbled forward and slammed into it head first. He nearly dropped his knife as he fell onto his back and let out a groan. Caedus made no effort to follow up, instead he simply straightened his tie again and checked his watch. Kizami mentally screamed in rage. What an asshole! He did that on purpose! Clocks and watches didn't work inside Heavenly Host. Now he was going to absolutely eviscerate this guy. He began to think up all sorts of imaginative and grotesque ways to kill him slowly and painfully. First him, and then he'd kill Yuka. He licked his lips in anticipation at the thought of gutting her like a fish.

        Kizami quickly sprang back onto his feet and attacked him, trying to stab the well-dressed teen in the gut, but once again he hit nothing but the air. He tried three more times to slice or stab him, but each time Caedus evaded it. Kizami was becoming increasingly agitated that he couldn't seem to land a hit on this guy. He tried to punch him, but his foe easily deflected his fist away. Kizami saw his chance and raised his other hand to pierce into Caedus's stomach, but Caedus grabbed his wrist and stopped him. Kizami tried to wrench his hand free, but was surprised to find that the other boy's grip was like an iron shackle. Instinctively, he smashed his knee into directly in the gut of his enemy, causing the both to jolt slightly. Caedus bent forward and grunted, but did not relax his hold on Kizami's wrist in the least. Kizami pulled his leg back and slammed it into him again. Then again, and again, and again, but never once did he manage to free himself. He tried to punch him only to have his hand knocked away.

        Then before he could try anything else, he felt something impact him directly in the gut. The blow reverberated throughout his entire body, and it took his nerves a couple moments to register the pain as he buckled forward, but when they did the agony raced through him like fire. He felt his stomach lurch and his knees quake and his vision became blurry. He saw Caedus's outstretched arm pull back away from his stomach. Finally, Caedus relaxed his grip on Kizami's wrist before slapping him in the cheek with the back of his hand. The force of this hit was much more than Kizami expected. It sent him staggering backwards nearly ten feet down the hall and to the side, and he hit his shoulder against a cabinet before collapsing to his knees. Just a slap had that much force behind it.

        He held his stomach with one hand as he gasped for breath and heaved. The wind had been knocked right out of him, and he felt like he was going to be sick. His head was swimming from dizziness and nausea. He barely noticed the stinging in his cheek because of the rippling deep burning in his stomach. He moaned and coughed, splattering saliva on the floor. He heaved more and more, and it took everything in his power not to throw-up right there. He wouldn't give this jackass that satisfaction.

        He looked up to see Caedus standing there patiently watching him, all the while fixing his tie and dusting off his vest, the dickhead. He wanted to tear that smug face right off. Even so, Kizami realized he'd grossly underestimated this one. He might be an arrogant asshole, but he was good-very good. He obviously had hand-to-hand combat training. His reflexes were downright scary and his strength was practically superhuman. An even more sobering problem was that based on his current behavior, this Caedus guy wasn't taking him seriously yet. This was going to be tough, but that would make it all the more satisfying to watch him die.

        "Shit," Kizami sputtered, panting as he felt his nausea begin to finally dissipating.

        "You can just walk away," Caedus told him. "There is no reason to keep this up."

        "Shut up!" Kizami wheezed. "I'm not running away. I'm gonna kill you, and Yuka! Don't lecture me! We're all dead anyway, don't you get it? What difference does it make how or when in this place? If a ghost kills you, I kill you, starvation, or dehydration it doesn't matter. In the end, you're still just as dead! I've got nothing to lose in here, so fuck it!" he rose to his feet and shrugged off the last of the pain and discomfort. He was ready for action again. Caedus's eyes widened in astonishment as Kizami got back

        "Nothing to lose, you say?" Caedus asked. "What about the people back in our world waiting for you?"

        "What about em?" Kizami said. "I hate them all, just like they've always hated me! I don't give a fuck about any of them. They're all liars! That's what I love about this place, though. It's so easy to die here, and it's only in people's final moments that they show you just how selfish they really are. It's their true colors!"

        Caedus shook his head and let out a sigh. "You're such a fool. I pity you," he said softly with a deeply saddened tone in his voice and a frown on his face. He glanced down to the floor as he said the words, but quickly straightened out his back and regained his former calmness. "But, there's just no way to reason with you... So be it. Cheers to death, then." Then he looked over his shoulder at the brown haired girl with the blue smock up against the wall with a look of terrified bewilderment on her face. "Yuka, is it? Listen to me. Go through that door like the little girl said. Whatever happens, you don't need to see this."

        Kizami let out a battle cry and charged him yet again as Yuka stood there, frozen and completely out of it. Kizami tried frantically to hit him with the knife, a fist, a foot, anything. But, all of his attacks were blocked or dodged. He hit Kizami with a punch that glanced off his shoulder, but still hit with enough force to force him backwards several feet. Good God this guy was strong! That barely hit him at all and still knocked him back that easily? He regained his footing, only to gasp in surprise when he saw Caedus right in front of him. He blinked once and the kid had closed the distance between them during that time. What the hell was going on here? He tried once more to stab him, but Caedus side-stepped him and slipped behind him. Kizami started to turn around, but didn't even pivot an inch before Caedus tapped him ever so lightly with his hand right at the base of his neck and pulled away. It was so light, that he barely felt the impact, only a tiny pinprick of pain like one Caedus's nails had dug in and broke the skin when he touched him. Was he aiming for a pressure point or something, what was that supposed to do? Kizami turned around and swiped at him letting out a furious growl, only to get knocked straight backwards and to the ground by a punch to the face.

        "Go, now!" Caedus shouted forcefully at Yuka, snapping her out of her trance.

        "O-okay!" she nodded meekly and then immediately fled as he told her.

        "That's right! Run, little rabbit, run!" Kizami yelled as he got to his feet once more, but struggled to fight off the dizziness. That hit made him see stars. Then he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his mouth shoot through his jaw and into his head. He grabbed his mouth in pain. "Aagh. What the hell?" He touched his right most upper incisor tooth, the source of this new discomfort, and felt it move. Touching sent another wave of pain through his mouth, and a small amount of blood dripped out of his mouth over his fingers and onto the floor. The tooth made a rather disgusting cracking sound when he grabbed onto it and it came completely loose from its spot in his gums. An even more intense wave of pain surged through him and he let out a yowl in rage and agony. He panted as he held the tooth in between his index and middle fingers. Its white surface and his hands were covered in small blood spots, and he could taste it in his mouth. His brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed as he stared at it. He turned his attention back on Caedus, who was standing there with his hands at his sides watching him with a blank expression on his face. Then, in a rage, he threw the tooth to the ground where it bounced several times a little bit and then rolled in a circle before stopping near the wall.

        "That's it, pretty boy!" He roared, now speaking with a slight lisp due to his lost tooth. "Now you've really pissed me off!"

        "Indeed," Caedus said with a smirk. He extended his hand and beckoned Kizami to come at him in very Matrix-like fashion. Kizami ran in again but this time stepped to the side and swept across the air in front of him with the knife, hoping to catch Caedus by surprise and finally slit this bastard's throat. to his own surprise and delight, his ploy worked. His knife cut into the flesh on the side of the other boy's neck. Caedus gasped and jumped back before Kizami could do anything else. He put his hand on the small crimson line that had been made by the knife.

        Kizami cursed mentally. He finally managed to hit him, but his cut wasn't nearly deep enough. Still, the fact the had finally managed to inflict some kind of damage on his opponent made his confidence soar. He laughed maniacally as went after Caedus again. He slashed with as much speed, strength, and zeal as he could muster. Each swing or jab of his knife, each punch or kick was more ferocious than the last. His movements became erratic and wild, all the while he was still laughing. Caedus remained completely on the defensive, always managing to avoid the knife by some of Kizami's other attacks did hit him though they didn't seem to cause him any real damage. Kizami became lost in the heat of the moment, clinging to the hope and the ecstasy that his one measly cut to his enemy's neck had given him. He would make sure his knife dug deep the next time. The two continued their deadly dance for several more moments down the hall.

        However, it wasn't long before Kizami began to tire. His breath became shorter and shorter, and his muscles started to twinge and ache all over his body. That was very strange, he shouldn't have been this exhausted so quickly. Sure he had running around after Yuka and had been beaten up a bit during his battle with this guy so far, but his body hurt like he'd just been at the gym for four hours bench pressing a ridiculous amount of weight and doing sit-ups or something. He could feel a powerful fatigue beginning to set in. He had to rest, his body simply could not keep this up. He stepped back a few feet and put his hands on his knees, wondering when the room got so cold. If he was this tired, he should be sweating, but he was practically shivering instead. He stood there, panting, gasping for air. Each breath was an effort. Luckily, Caedus once again did not press his attack. He had the advantage and they both knew it, but what was he waiting for? Kizami knew this was a risk. He was betting that his adversary wouldn't attack, and for the moment it was paying off. He was trying to catch his breath, but each inhalation was more labored than the last. The more he tried to recuperate, the more drained he felt. What the hell was going on here? This didn't feel like normal exhaustion, no it kind of reminded him of that time last winter when he got what he could only describe as the worst flu in the world.

        "What's the matter, Mr. Kizami?" Caedus asked as he stepped towards him. "You're looking a bit pale. Need a break?"

        "No thanks," Kizami growled, but with a smirk. "I'm fine." He didn't want to rest, even though he felt like he needed it desperately. He just wanted to lie down with something warm...after he carved this guy like a Turkey in America on their "Thanksgiving" holiday. He shivered as another chill crept over his body. His head started to swim and his stomach lurched. He felt a slight, but noticeable throbbing pain in his neck near his Adam's Apple, under his armpits, and even in his inner thighs. He felt weaker and weaker by the moment. Something was definitely wrong, but what? Maybe he was actually getting sick, but his condition was deteriorating awfully fast.

        "Just being sporting," Caedus replied casually, shrugging his shoulders. "You don't look 'fine' at all."

        "What is it with you?" Kizami asked before he started coughing a bit. "I don't get you at all. I'm trying to kill you and you're asking if I wanna rest? I think you've got a screw loose, buddy."

        "So I have been told," Caedus laughed. "But, seriously. Just because we're in an alternate dimension doesn't mean we can't act or fight with some civility."

        Kizami started to laugh hysterically, but his laughter quickly became a chorus of hacking coughs and his throat burned. "Civility? Please! This place is full of nothing but death and despair! All the social norms go right out the window! It's do or die, and then die anyway. Like I said, it doesn't fucking matter anymore! Mercy ain't worth shit in here!" He coughed again and felt like he was going to fall over if he didn't sit down.

        "You have no idea how wrong you are," Caedus replied coldly, crossing his arms again as his eyes narrowed. "I won't even try explaining it to you, you wouldn't care anyway." With that, the teen suddenly darted right down the hall at Kizami. His movements were so quick he looked like a dark blur. Kizami didn't even see what hit him, he only felt it. He felt himself go sailing through the air until he collided with the wall down the other end of hallway where Yuka had been and he fell to the ground with a thud.

The old floorboards of Heavenly Host creaked and groaned underneath him as he tried to push himself up. It took every ounce of his strength to get back onto his knees, but then he looked up to see Caedus standing over him with an amused smile on his face. Kizami backed away, starting to feel a twinge of fear. He tried to get up only to be met with the bottom of a shoe right in his face. He felt pressure on his nose as he was forced backwards over the wooden floor. The angle of attack also pushed him flat against the boards once again.

        Then he saw his chance. He took his knife and jabbed it deep into the side Caedus's calf and sliced down, attempting to sever the achilles tendon or something. Caedus shouted in surprise and pain as Kizami wrenched the knife from him. The well dressed boy stumbled back a bit and sank to his knee, holding his wounded leg as blood saturated and stained his torn pants.

        Kizami tried to force himself up again, now was the moment he had been waiting for. But he was slow to get to his feet. He wavered in his dizziness. The pain in his body was growing stronger, and he felt firm lumps under his arms, around his neck, and his inner thighs as a result of inflammation and swelling. They hurt terribly if he brushed another part of his body up against them. Even the slightest movement made him shiver as if he were in the arctic during a blizzard, and yet his skin felt so warm, like he had a fever. What kind of illness was this? He'd never felt so sick in his life, and it took all his effort to take a step towards his enemy where he knelt on the ground. Wait, could he have caused this somehow? No way, when would he have done that? How could he have done that? But he didn't see any other explanation. His symptoms were vastly different from the splitting headaches and nausea described by the victims of this school in their memoirs and final messages.

        Even through his blurry spinning vision he could still see the little Girl in Red watching them with great interest. He had seen her before now that he thought about it. She was one of the four children spirits wasn't it? He laughed inside his clouded mind. If she decided to do anything, he was thoroughly screwed. He barely had enough strength to stand. It required all his concentration to walk. Running or fighting was out of the question, although he wasn't sure what trying to fight a ghost would accomplish other than making himself look like a complete idiot. He could hear his sister laughing at him for trying. You're such a dumbass, Yuuya. Who do you think you are, Bill Murray? That bitch.

        He returned to the arduous task of making the walk of about five feet toward Caedus to finish him off. One foot in front of the other. Slowly but surely, he made his way over to him. He faltered and almost fell over, shivering and coughing horribly, but still he kept going. Wait, was that blood on his hand? He just coughed up blood! He also noticed something off about his skin coloration in his hands and several spots on his arms. It looked like there were purple bruises beginning to form there, and they looked that much more hideous in contrast to his sickly pale skin. His hands and feet were starting to feel like they were falling asleep, but the pain throughout the rest of his body only intensified with each passing second. He began to panic, and his heartbeat quickened. Oh God! What was happening to him? He put those thoughts aside when he saw a something move in front of him and looked over at Caedus again.

        He was trying to stand up, but from the look of things, he couldn't place any weight on his injured leg. He was grabbing his leg and moaning in pain. Kizami smiled in glorious triumph, in spite of his current discomfort. This guy was some kind of freak with inhuman abilities, but a knife could still wound him like any other living thing. And if it could wound him, it could kill him. It was time to see who Caedus really was underneath those prim-and-proper mannerisms and that arrogant bravado.

        Suddenly his stomach turned again, and he really felt like he was going to throw up this time. His belly started to ache unbearably. He fought it off, and raised the knife to deliver the final blow. It was a struggle even to raise his arm, especially with that swollen area under it. He bore the pain, but before he could plunge it into Caedus, the teen suddenly glanced up and looked Kizami right in the eyes and smiled and let out a snicker. Then came just a flicker, a blur of movement before something smashed into Kizami's chin with tremendous force, snapping his head and neck upward and knocking his body into the air. He fell back hard against the ground, luckily his back made contact before his head did.

        He lay in a shivering, whimpering, moaning heap on the ground. He had never felt so afraid, desperate or confused before this moment. Not even the unsettling nature of that one spirit with half of its head missing inspired the same kind of fear he felt now. This was...this was like facing down Death-The Reaper itself in the guise of a youthful gentleman as opposed to the shrouded skeleton with a scythe. Even as he played his cruel game, he maintained a relatively calm and collected nature, and that was probably the most terrifying thing about him. He wanted to flee, but even if he had the strength, he felt like this guy, no, this thing would still be able to find him. His heart pounded and pumped adrenaline and whatever ailment that was afflicting him through his weakened, sickly body. His only solace was the knife still clutched in his hand.

        A shadow fell over him and once more Caedus stood above him, looking down with a rather sinister smile on his face. Kizami, driven by sheer willpower and instinct, managed to flip himself over onto his hands and feet, but instead of the surface of the floor, he felt only pins and needles in his hands. He crawled forward, trying to get away. He had to escape, even though his ever calculating mind knew it was futile. He could hear Caedus following slowly behind him without the slightest hint of a limp in his step, and he tried to crawl faster. Then, he saw his hands and finally lost all control of his stomach when his eyes were met with the bluish-purple, and in some places outright blackening skin and flesh on his hands an wrists. It had a truly repulsive green tinge to it. His stomach lurched and he wretched as he felt something rising from within his body. He let out a gurgling groan-like sound as he spewed it from his mouth all over the floor in front of him. It didn't taste like regular sick, but had an oddly metallic taste that he knew only too well, and that alone was enough to almost make him vomit again. It was full of blood. What the hell was happening to his body? What sort of diabolical concoction had Caedus hit him with?

        "What...What did you..." He kept losing his breath. His voice was little more than a hoarse whisper now. "What did...you do to...me?"

        "Okay, you got me," Caedus laughed and broke into a round of applause. "Somebody give this man a gold star!"

        "Poison?" Kizami wheezed. He felt a shoe slide under his stomach and nudge him, flipping him onto his back once again. Luckily most of the bloodied contents of his stomach had been spilled in front of where he was, so he didn't get any of it on him, although that was of little comfort as he stared up in terror at this creature that called itself Caedus Ater. He looked so human, and yet, there was this air about him-this aura of fear that felt like a pressure on his chest. He hadn't noticed it until now.

        "Did I poison you, is that what you're asking? Well, yes and no," Caedus finally replied, shaking his head. "You've been stricken with a disease, my friend. As to what kind, well, let us just say that there is probably no other as well known as that one. Bubonic plague, some call it."

        Kizami felt like the name was familiar, but he didn't remember where he'd heard it from. Caedus must have sensed or noticed his confusion, and continued like he was reading the sociopathic teen's mind.

        "In the 1300's that very same sickness killed anywhere from one to two thirds of Europe's entire population, and in doing so earned its more widely used name: Black Death. So called for the terror it inspired as well as the black flesh in the hands, feet and mouth brought on by necrosis or rotting of the tissue there."

        Did he just say Black Death?! He was infected with the Black Death? How? Didn't that disease spread because of fleas on certain rodents that carried it? It was also impossible for a disease to spread this fast, right? No, after everything he'd been through in Heavenly Host, Kizami had learned that the concept of the impossible was an illusion. Nothing was impossible, only improbable. Whether Caedus was human or not, whether he was another spirit of the school or perhaps something even more foul, the reality of his situation was clear. A disease was eating away at him, piece by painful piece, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. He coughed furiously again, causing his swollen Adam's Apple and his throat to burn. The last vestige of hope of getting out of this alive faded from his mind. He was finished, but this wasn't over yet. If he was going down, then he could take this freak with him. He flipped the knife in his hand so that his fingers were clasped on either side of the blade.

        "So...So I'm fucked, right?" He asked in more or a gurgling wheeze than a voice. He managed a bloody smirk. "A school full of ghosts and...it's a...god...damned disease...that does me in. That's so lame...ah well." With that he started to laugh, but it became yet another sanguine coughing fit.

        "I take it then that the way you die in here is of consequence now that you're about to die?" Caedus said smugly.

        "Fuck...you, asshole!" Kizami muttered. In the end, he was going to have the last laugh even if it was literally his last one. He coughed once more and then threw the knife straight at him. He thought his throw was weak, but to his surprise, the knife hit Caedus like a bullet right between the eyes. Caedus exhaled sharply and stumbled backwards with a look of shock and confusion frozen on his face. He bent backwards and finally fell onto the floor with a thud. Kizami couldn't help but laugh again. He had done it! The sound of that jerk's body was like music to his sickly ears. Whatever he was, whatever power he had, it was all worthless now. What an idiot! He had all those abilities only to leave himself wide open and botch it up at the end. Truly, it was hilarious. In spite of the pain, Kizami laughed and coughed hysterically. "How...'d ya like that? It's a special...delivery. From me...to you...You can...choke...on it." With a groan he laid his head back against the wood.

        He chuckled again as he lay there gasping for air, whilst the symptoms of the infamous disease continued to worsen. Then, his heart skipped a beat and he fell silent when he heard Caedus laughing as well. He looked over at the body and saw that he was in fact chuckling just a bit. No way! He hit him right in the head with that knife. How could he still be...Kizami's thought process was interrupted by a wave of complete and total disbelief when he saw Caedus's left hand reach up and pull the knife straight out of his head and chuck if off to the side. The killing instrument went sailing through the air and stuck into the wall right above the ghostly Girl in Red. It hit the wall with an audible twang, causing her to turn shaprly and immediately towards it.

        "Well, that's a foul," she said softly with a snicker before turning back to the two. Then, looking at Caedus with a very malicious and sadistic grin plastered on her face she crossed her arms over her chest and muttered: "I'll make you regret that later, you punk!" With that she simply faded back through the wall behind her and disappeared. The fun was over and she knew it.

        Slowly Caedus sat up, and rubbed his forehead. Kizami looked on in total horror and disbelief as the other boy got to his feet. How? How could he take a knife right to the head and not die? What the hell was he?

        "I probably deserved that," Caedus laughed. There was no longer any visible wound on his head, but some of the blood was still there, in small river-like streaks down his face fanning out from where the knife had hit him. Even with the blood on his face, he retained that same calm and collected appearance. "I can't believe I fell for the same trick twice. Damn! I think I'm a bit rusty."

        "You...can't," Kizami sputtered. "H-h...How?"

        "Because someone beat you to it, I'm afraid," Caedus said solemnly, turning his chin down slightly and lowering his voice. "A very, very, long time ago." He looked like he was remembering something he was not fond of. He looked at the hallway around him as he stepped toward Kizami. He put his palm on the wall nearest to him and ran his hand over it as he moved. "Long before these walls existed in any reality. There aren't that many relics left from those days. Though some of our greatest monuments are still around, and my heritage survives within me. Ego sum permaneo Romanorum. But, I digress. Do you understand now, Mr. Kizami?"

        "Under...s-stand?" Nothing about this made any sense to him. What was he talking about? He didn't care, he just wanted to die already! He didn't care whether it laster for eternity, as long as it didn't get any worse than this.

        "Do you understand how it feels to face death like this? Like others had to because of you?"

        "Seriously? You...you think I didn't...already? I don't...care how...they felt. They're all just...liars...and thieves." He coughed more blood and tried to grab at his body to ease the pain, but his blackening hands would no longer respond to his orders. He could only rest his arms over himself. The concept of morality that people seemed to hold so high meant nothing to him. Caedus was the one who didn't get it. What did it matter how they felt or thought? In a perfect world, the idea of morals was childish.  The only truth of the world was survival. People hated each other deep down, and that became apparent in business, sports, even in so-called friendships. But, it showed itself completely only when someone was about to die. When they had no escape and the facade of love they put up was meaningless, that was when their true nature was revealed.

        "I see. You've learned nothing, and that's a shame," Caedus said quietly, squatting down next to Kizami. "Then again, Heavenly Host is an institution for learning. Perhaps your time in its walls as a spirit will teach you the error of your ways. Now all that remains is how to end this. I could just leave you to die from the disease in a few hours, but I think not. No, you saw only a taste of what I can do and you still fought to the end. You deserve better. Besides, I'm thirsty." He licked his lips and opened his lips into a full smile. Kizami shuddered at the sight of a pair of long, razor sharp, ivory upper canine teeth that stuck out past the others when Caedus smiled. His skin seemed paler now than it did before. It was the same pallid coloration on a fresh corpse. His ruby red eyes had a more piercing, predatory stare as well. Wait, red? His eyes were blue, weren't they? Caedus reached his hand under Kizami's back and lifted him up just a bit. Even his nails looked different. They had a slight curve to them and they were longer and pointier like an animal's claws except that they still retained some of their human shape, and flatness.

        "Cruor est vita," Caedus said in a whisper. The last thing he saw was Caedus open his mouth and lean towards him. The last thing he felt besides the malaise and agony of the Black Death destroying him from within was a sharp pain in the lower right side of his neck followed by something warm and wet pouring over his skin. In a matter of moments, it all faded completely into blackness.

****

A short while later Yuka found herself sitting in the middle of another hallway as lost, terrified, and confused as ever. She ran away from Kizami and that other guy back there until she couldn't run anymore. Where was her big brother? Where was Satoshi? She wanted to go and look for him, but she felt that if she did she might distance herself even further from him by accident.

"What do I do, big brother?" She cried. Tears began to flow down her cheeks. Then, in the midst of her sobbing, she heard something skittering across the wooden floor. She wiped her blurred, teary eyes and looked up. Once again, she was face to face with a large black rat, just like the one from before. In fact, it looked like it was the same one except for a tiny dribble of barely noticeable red liquid on the left side of its mouth. The two looked at each other once again. She waited for the rodent to make a move apprehensively.

        "It's you again," she said softly, blinking and breaking the stare before wiping her nose and sobbing again. Somehow, she got the feeling that rat didn't want to hurt her. If anything, it was kind of cute except that it was so huge. At least it wasn't trying to kill her...not yet anyway. She sniffled and watched as it suddenly began chasing its own tail in circles all around the floor, bringing a smile to the girl's face. It seemed to notice this, and reared up onto its hind legs and leaned towards, sniffing the air until its long, black, flickering whiskers tickled the tip of her nose causing her to scrunch her face in surprise and giggle a bit. It cooed softly like it was greeting her or something and then got back on all fours and scampered off to the left. She wiped her tears away and followed it with her eyes. It stopped about halfway down the hall and turned around and looked back at her, cocking its head to the side. What was it doing?

        It raised its tail and whipped it to the right, curling it around its body. After a pause, it did it again. She sat there, perplexed and unmoving. The rodent ran back over to her and reared up. Then it turned and quickly darted a couple of feet away down the hall where it faced her again, waiting with its eyes fixed on hers. Did it want her to follow it? She wouldn't have believed this was happening, but after all that she'd seen today, a rat wanting her to follow it seemed a whole lot more realistic now. She felt like she could trust it. Something in its blank, black eyes seemed to be compelling her, making her want to follow it. Perhaps it knew where her brother was. Well, it was worth a try. She decided to put her faith in the creature and follow it for a while, but decided to run at the first sign of trouble. She stood up and walked after the furry rodent as it turned and scampered away.