Black Crystals

Title: Black Crystals
Story: Original
Pairing: Tory Hanson/????

Author's note: I hope you enjoy! (Accidentally deleted...fixed stuff though)


“No!” A quiet, strangled-like yelp escaped the young boy. His eyes shot open then as he began to flail against the covers, which held their position upon his small-framed, suffocated body. When they finally gave in to his struggling, he sat up in bed, gasping for air. Once the boy’s breathing became stable, he quickly clapped his hands twice, to turn the over-head lights on. Tory could not take these nightmares at all anymore, for how they seemed to always come true on him.


Shaking his head, Tory threw the covers off of him and slipped over to the side of the bed, standing up after. With a quick check to his alarm clock and a large, exaggerated sigh afterwards, the young eighteen year old left the small bedroom and entered the bathroom across the hall. All he needed to do was to get ready before he would be heading off to rehearsal for the play that was showing for tomorrow night. This would be their last time before they couldn’t’ do anymore drastic changes and Tory was prepared for the worst. He had taken on the role of the Beast knowing fully well that he would not be able to back down out of this after the first week. It was when the second week rolled around that he had his lines memorized.


The time was 5:02 P.M. and he was going to be late if he didn’t get his butt in gear and leave his apartment building. Quickly slipping in and out of the shower in a time limit of seven minutes, the young Asian was already heading out the door, getting into a fight with his light coat he had hung up next to the entrance. When he made it to the parking lot, he pulled out a set of keys and pressed a button to unlock his red 1998 Saturn. When the lights blinked a couple of times, Tory went to run out towards his car, but it seemed his legs temporarily forgot how to work, sending him forward, heading for the ground instead.


He closed his eyes to embrace the contact to the hard concrete, a few seconds passed by before Tory realized, he had landed on a bush instead. Opening his eyes to see how it had occurred, the boy only shook his head before getting up and walking over towards the car, slower this time.


“Whatever seems to be going on, really is affecting the way I’m acting right now. I just hope our rehearsal goes as planned…or better.” The Asian slid into the car, stuck the keys into the ignition and turned it to start the engine. It came to life peacefully, as if it had been sleeping as well. Smiling at the soft purr his car made, he pulled out of his designated parking spot and when Tory looked up, he felt his heart skip a beat at what he saw, it was an appearance of a shadowed like man, smirking at him…from HIS window. What the hell?


Tory stomped quickly on the brakes when he heard a car horn cut through his daze from behind him. If he had gone any further backwards, there would have been an accident for sure. Blinking a couple of times, he rubbed his eyes and looked back at his window only to see that no one was there. Seriously, what the hell ? Quietly rolling down his window, he looked back to give an apologetic wave to the woman he had almost hit, turned his attention to in front of him and took off out of the parking lot.


While he drove down certain streets that he took unconsciously to the theater, Tory thought about what he had seen back at his apartment. The man in his window, had looked so familiar but yet so unfamiliar as well. He had wanted to go back to find out who it had been that appeared in his apartment but rehearsal came first and only first.


Taking a quick right turn into the theater back parking lot, Tory pulled off into the nearest parking spot and set his car into park but didn’t turn it off yet for something had brushed against his right cheek. He blinked a couple of times, looked into the rear view mirror to see that no one was behind him and immediately opened the car door to get out. He seriously was going crazy…and somehow he knew it wasn’t the good kind. Like there was any good crazy anyhow.


When he did though, it felt like a strong gust of wind pushed against him, pinning him temporarily to the back door. The moment it was over, the Asian looked around at the trees...to see there was no kind of wind blowing. "Okay then, LILAH! I'm going CRAZY here!" Tory immediately called when he saw the make up artist peek out from the back door after dumping some excess water out from her station. She looked up when hearing her name and laughed.


“Aren’t we all going crazy in our own little ways Tory? Come on! You’re wanted on stage in ten minutes!” She pushed the door farther open and propped it before walking off. The eighteen year old darted inside and headed straight for his dressing room that he shared with his other male co-stars. The moment he stepped in, they looked up and waved before going back to what they were doing by either putting make up on themselves or costumes. Brinn, who was Tory’s best friend, gave him a high five as he passed by.


“Oi ye brat, did you hear that they’re planning on doing a Buffy the Vampire Slayer play next after this?” Tory stopped in mid step and looked down at the sitting teen that smirked back at him before continuing his explanation. “They’re doing a play over the episode that is known as ‘Once more with feeling’ and I think that you should try out for Xander! Only because I think you would suck at Spike.” For a moment Tory had debated on whacking Brinn over the head but realized that the statement was true, he ‘would’ be a better Xander then Spike or even Giles. “Whatever you say Brinn…so are you trying to tell me I should try out for Xander?” He smirked right back only to cause Brinn to laugh and nod.


“You’d be perfect, like I said! You’re goofy for one thing and also like to pull the best jokes ever…even if they can be quite perverted.” Tory took a seat next to Brinn in his chair after he pulled out his own make up set. He would have gone on about the upcoming play idea but he wanted to tell someone about what he had experienced when coming here.


“Brinn, I think I may be losing my mind…” The Asian whispered as he brushed some of his hair out of his eyes to apply a shade of brown to under and around his eyes. Brinn glanced at him for a moment to see if Tory would look at him but the boy continued to apply the necessary make up he needed. “Why do you think that Tory?” He couldn’t hold in his question anymore then a few seconds at most, which got him in trouble sometimes. A few minutes passed by in silence while they quickly got ready for rehearsal but Tory finally answered when he saw that there was only one other person in the room besides him and Brinn, listening to his Ipod.

“When I got into my car today, I saw some kind of shadowed man standing in my window, staring straight at me with a smirk.” The blue eyed boy blinked a couple of times to make sure he didn’t have anything in his eyes before standing up. When he saw the look that Brinn was giving him, he shook his head. “Its true, but I think that I may have just been seeing things. I don’t want people thinking that I should go to a psychiatrist or something…” As Brinn stood up, he pats his friend on the back.


“Well Tory, I don’t know what to say to you but just know that I think you’re probably extremely tired…how could have someone gotten into your apartment when you had locked it up after knowing NO one was there? Its just plain downright creepy man!” Tory couldn’t help but laugh at Brinn’s statement for a few seconds and shook his head right after. “I guess you’re right…I don’t think Josh is going to be happy with us if we don’t get out there…Gaston and the Beast!” With that thrown out, Tory turned and darted out the door, stopping right before crashing into Josh who looked annoyed.


“What was taking you two? I need my Gaston on stage and my Beast in the right wing!” Josh clapped his hand against the large script he was holding twice before shooing the two off to their rightful positions. “I want our play to be perfect for tomorrow you people! Please don’t screw anything up in this!” He called and disappeared backstage to watch his masterpiece begin.


Rehearsal had gone well throughout all the scenes, scene changes and other such but when they got to the last scene, Tory was found to be…losing his voice somewhat. Coughing a couple of times, he walked across the stage and stopped at the edge to look at Josh who looked back. “Hey, Josh, mind if I go get some water? I need to clear this thing out of my throat…” He didn’t know how he had gotten it but it sure was there and bothering the hell out of him. For a quick second it looked like Josh was going to ignore Tory’s request but he nodded only a moment later. When Tory turned and started to head back towards the bathrooms and dressing rooms he heard Josh call to him.


“Now Tory, do come back so we can finish this thing, you’ve got ten minutes!” Waving it off, Tory disappeared into the large back room. His first stop would be to the bathroom that he knew no one would be occupying for everyone was out there waiting for his return and probably going over the other scenes that didn’t have the Beast in it. With his palm flat against the door, he pushed it open after turning the knob with his other hand. Like he had planned it to be the bathroom was empty, so he walked in, let the door click shut and headed for the sink on the other side.


Turning the faucet on to the coldest it could get, the young Asian bent down at a level where he captured some of the cool liquid in his mouth, swished it a little bit and swallowed. Tory’s throat felt much better but for the lack of words spoken, he felt kind of eerie being alone in the bathroom. Looking down at the sink after standing back up, he clasped both hands under the running water; let it fill up before splashing his face. He wouldn’t need the make up on for the last run through anyway. Suddenly, the boy felt as if he had just lost his breath out of the blue. Grasping onto the bathroom sink, his eyes strained away from the flowing water and back up to the mirror only to freeze.


There was someone…no, the man he had seen in his apartment window, was standing behind him and he had his arms around Tory’s body in a possessive like manner. Tory felt as if he was being drawn into those dark, pitch black eyes that belonged to the stranger standing behind him. Swallowing thickly for an unknown reason, he stared into the mirror as he watched the shadowed man run both of his hands down his mirrored self’s image. The mirror Tory’s eyes closed halfway as he seemed to lean back into the man’s grasp even more.


“What…the…hell?” That was obviously becoming Tory’s response to everything today. He wanted to move and look away from the mirror but his crystal blue eyes were glued as if they were watching a TV screen. It continued on to where he was watching his other image be thoroughly molested and the longer he watched, the more he realized how much of a certain growing problem he was getting. Everywhere, the man’s hands were going everywhere on Tory’s mirrored self and he was enjoying it far too much for Tory to believe this was really happening. Finally, when the moment came where he saw one of those pale hands slip underneath his mirrored self’s pant line, Tory was able to break his grip of the sink and start to back away. The moment he did though, he had backed into Brinn who had came in to see what was going on.


“Tory? What the hell is wrong with you? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost!” Quickly clinging to the older boy, Tory looked back at the mirror to see that it was a mirrored image of him clinging to Brinn. Where did that stranger go and why did the boy feel so uncomfortable suddenly? Prying the Asian away from himself, Brinn looked him in the eyes. “That’s it, I’m taking you home, we’ve done the last scene a billion times but you sir, are in need of some serious rest. I’m driving you home.” He spun Tory around and directed him towards the bathroom door. The boy didn’t say anything, he only let himself be guided out the back door after listening to Brinn explain what was going on to Josh. When they got to Tory’s car, he handed Brinn the keys before getting into the passenger’s side.

“Who are you stranger and why are you following me…?”