Bloodied Dreams

Chapter I: Welcome, Angel

Throughout the ten years Ji-Hin Daiyou had come to explore the world’s countless mysteries from the safety of his own backyard, he had never quite experience something like this. This was too foreign-- this feeling of absolute numbness, paralysis, and blindness . From head to toe, the child felt pins and needles, nothing more, and nothing less. The few attempts he made at moving the slightest of things, such as his fingers and toes, ended in nothing more than failure. For some reason, one which he wished only to know, his body would not respond to his commands, regardless of how hard he tried and how much effort he offered. Instead, it remained limp, resting only upon what he could guess was a soft bed. Then there were his mismatched eyes, the left medium blue, the right bright orange, both of which were wide open--- he was positive, and yet, the world around him was still concealed completely, utterly, simply by a veil of darkness as if it were playing a childish game of hide and seek.

It didn’t help in the least that he had no idea where he was--- if he was still in Kirinai, or if the bustling city was now a thing of the past. If anything, he wasn’t home, that much he could at least be sure of. The sweet, though somewhat burning scent of lilacs was absent. The scent belonged to that of his governess, though with the passing of years, it had slowly became nothing more than a part of the house itself. In almost every room, it was entertained, always lingering, always present clearly, no matter what.

“Angel?”

From somewhere too close for comfort, the unfamiliar, masculine voice played. It was the lone word that shook the boy from his lilac-centered thoughts, reluctantly bringing him back to the realm known as ‘reality’. Should the boy have had to guess, he would have claimed the speaker was mere inches from his body. Yet, it was almost soothing--- the tone he took, the volume he used. Stranger or not, it was hard to not feel at ease around the mysterious figure, whoever, wherever he was.

“Angel, I know you’re awake.”

Almost instantly, the springs began to shift. If the man wasn’t close before, he certainly was now.

Angel? That was the one word he was constantly repeating, but why? The man was addressing him, wasn’t he? He was no angel, and that certainly wasn’t his name---

All at once, the dark, opaque veil was lifted, giving the various colors of the mysterious room a chance to pounce the child all at once. Thankfully, there were few colors in the first place, apparently most of the room consisting of white and dark red, if not a shade or two lighter. The walls themselves were pure white, along with the pillow cases, and the inside of the comforters that covered the large, king-size bed the two currently rested upon. Next, there was the carpet and the sheets, both of which were dark red, or some shade not far from it.

Overall, the room itself was rather mediocre. Besides the bed, which had a large, translucent canopy of white and dark, wooden poles supporting it, there was a small, equally dark nightstand off to the left, and finally, a dark, wooden trunk could be found against the wall which stood directly before the bed. At the moment, its lid was closed, concealing whatever it might currently be holding. The same could be said for the nightstand, not that it mattered; nightstands hardly ever carried anything fun.

Then, there was the man.

“Having fun?” he chuckled, sitting lotus-style in front of Ji-Hin. For a stranger, he didn’t look all that scary. If anything, he was definitely well groomed, much like a businessman, or the fancy guys Ji-Hin’s mum always loved to socialize with. His white, button-down shirt matched perfectly with his black, formal pants. Then, there was his hair-- a beautiful, chocolate brown hue, cropped perfectly, not coming an inch off of his head. Below that, were his dark, forest green eyes, both of which were focused directly on Ji-Hin.

The floor was a wonderful place to quickly look, even if it was to simply avoid eye contact. Unlike the man, it did not have capability to express emotion. It would not stare at him hungrily, obviously desiring something he, being a child, could not understand, nor would it show disapproval of the childish staring, examination. It would merely stare back, blankly, unable to offend or fluster the boy in the least. The man, of course, would have none of this.

“Now, Angel, don’t you know it’s impolite to look away when someone’s talking to you?”

He didn’t wait for a response; it was unnecessary. Jaden Hacket was a man that always had the pleasure of getting his way, no matter what.

With the aid of his left hand, he carefully grasped the boy’s chin, much to Ji-Hin’s surprise. A mere pull in his direction was all that needed to be applied, along with a slight upward tug, before their eyes were meeting, emerald green easily matching with medium blue and bright orange. “See? Isn’t this better, Angel?”

Had the rest of his body even the slightest of feeling, he would have shaken his head, pulled away--- just done something to disagree with what had been said. Yet, much to his horror, he had only his voice to defend himself; mere words were now his only shield.

“N--not Angel,” he finally murmured, not sure what else to say. Ma always said not to talk to strangers, but how else would the man ever know his name? He certainly didn’t want to be mistaken for someone else and not say anything--- that was rude, wasn’t it?

Another low chuckle erupted from Jaden’s throat at the small, childish comment. Cute was the one that came to mind the moment the words passed. Only a child would play into his precious little trap. “Really now?” he asked, each word laced with false sincerity. At the same time, he leaned forward, closing what little distance remained between his pretty little angel and him. “Then tell me, what is your name?”

That certainly received a response. Without realizing it, Ji-Hin began trembling, Jaden’s hot, caressing breath about his face too much for him to handle. Still, in the same, unstable voice, he managed to mutter, “Ji-Hin.”

“Ji-Hin? My, angel, how pretty.” It was more than just pretty, but out of all the adjectives Jaden could conjure, ‘pretty’ was the most suited for innocent ears. “Well then Ji-Hin,” he paused, simply long enough to press his lips against the child’s forehead. “Welcome to your new home.”

A/N: I apologize again for the slow pace this seems to be taking, and for the lack of any real action. However, good things do come to those that wait. Hopefully, that being true, the next chapter will be a bit more satisfying. In other news, I finally have a Beta. Although she is not a member of this site, I’d like to give a huge thanks to my dear friend, Emsie. Without her, this chapter would have had a handful of annoying errors. xD

Jess: With any luck, I’ll be able to do one chapter per week, if not more than that. =)

Madlodger: Thank you. It’s good to know that the community here can prove to be welcoming to first time writers. Concerning Ji-Hin’s age and how he’ll be raised, the next chapter will cover those details almost fully.

As for the rest of you, remember to review. It’s always pleasing to know someone is actually reading your story, and enjoying it, at that.