He was trapped

Izaya's frantic red eyes looked around him, at the completely concrete maze. He hugged his skinny arms closer, shuffling forward as his feet felt the cold floor beneath him. He was lost, completely and utterly lost. No matter what turn he took, the walls were all the same, over and over and over..

Suddenly, shadows rose up on the wall in the form of people. Izaya squeaked in terror, stumbling back as his hands went to grab his hair, eyes looking up. He saw no eyes, and yet he knew they were staring down at him. Then, they started to whisper. He understood none of their words, but he knew their voices. They were talking about him, whispering, laughing.

Izaya let out a squeak, turning and running down the corners as fast as he could. To his horror, when he looked back he saw the shadowy tendrils following him. They covered the walls, floors, and ceilings. Izaya could only panic further, and take off running faster. Coming to a crossroads, he turned down the left side and skidded to a stop.

There was a crowd of shadow people, their white eyes with tiny black pupils turned to stare at him with a piercing gaze. Almost instantly, they started to storm towards him as well. They were staring, watching, whispering. It was so loud-

The raven frantically took off, trying to escape. But it was too late. The shadows flew up, wrapping around his legs. Izaya crashed to the ground. The shadow on his legs suddenly tightened, and Izaya could only watch in horror as both his legs shattered like glass. A blinding pain burned through him, as he screamed in terror.

The shadows drew back, and Izaya threw his hands forward. He dug into the cement, but then his arms suddenly grew cracks on them, growing limp in front of him. Izaya's heart beat faster in terror, a horrified scream escaping again.

Suddenly, all the whispers quieted. There was the sound of soft and heavy footsteps. Izaya gasped, turning his eyes up to see who was coming towards him.

He saw.. He saw a gun.. and a bartender suit. That was enough to make him panic, his breath picking up as the world began to shake around him.

The man in the familiar suit stood back, an evil grin on his face, while the woman pointed the gun right on his head.

Oh no, oh no, no no no no!

There was no mercy, as the evil grins crawled up both their faces. The woman moved, her finger pulling the trigger and-

"NO!"

His red eyes snapped open as a horrified scream passed through his weakened lungs. Although he was awake, the horror couldn't seem to end. His hands scratched at the floor desperately as his stomach flipped, and a loud shatter rang through the room, snapping him out of his panic, and barely managing to stop the vomit from escaping his throat.

Even though he had managed to stop himself from throwing up, he felt his chest seize almost completely with nausea. He coughed and wheezed, his body desperately trying to regain some lost air but his panicked body leaving him with nothing to use.

The raven whimpered, his whole body beginning to shake as he gave into the familiar anxiety began to flow through him. His weakened body gave out, falling onto the cold ground once more. Next to him, he saw what the noise was. Shattered pieces of the lamp, one of the very few furniture pieces that came with the house. It was completely broken.

A strange voice in his head laughed. Who are you trying to fool, Izaya? That lamp is still more put together than you ever will be again. The voice sneered. The ravenjust lied for several moments, his red rimmed eyes staring emptily ahead at the pieces.

Eventually, his breathing began to calm. So he pressed his hands against the floor once more, pushing himself up. Although he was perfectly content to just lie down and let himself die, he didn't deserve such a peaceful death. The raven shifted away from the mess on the floor, his useless legs dragging behind him.

After he had gotten closer to his wheelchair, Izaya turned towards the mess once more, and physically cringed. There went his only lamp, and the mess was horrible, he had no real way to clean it. Wow, you just destroy everything no matter where you are. Pathetic. Those words stabbed him to the core with hot ice, but the raven forced himself to keep moving.

Eventually, he managed to wheel himself to the bathroom. The small, dusty room had a simple sink, bathtub, and shower. Maybe some cold water would help him wake up.

His pale hand turned on the cold water, wetting the towel, and wiping his face with it. He then filled with hands with water, cleaning his longer hair the best he could.

After patting himself down with the dry part of the towel, his red eyes locked into his image in the mirror.

He was so pale, almost the color of snow. The only other color was the circles around his eyes that seemed to get darker and darker during the past two weeks he spent inside the house. His cheeks were sunken, lips chewed. He was a mess.. He was disgusting..

Completely worthless, aren't you? What good are you now? Izaya hugged himself, empty red eyes continuing to stare at his ugly figure, the long nails beginning to dig into the skin. Why are you even alive? Nobody wants you to be here anymore, just go to hell where you belong.

The skin broke easily, but Izaya felt no pain. He continued to scratch at his arms, his breath beginning the become frantic. He could feel his heart beating in his chest. Why won't you just die?! You worthless piece of shit! The blood was sliding down.. Just bleed out.. Let it all end, you monster.. You monster!

A large gasp escaped him, the world suddenly returning to him. Air came to him slowly, desperately attempting to regulate his breathing. His red orbs lowered to look at his arms, the pale skin now painted with red stripes. Despite the amount of blood dripping down, he felt no pain.

Izaya felt so numb, completely numb, and if he wasn't numb then he was panicking. There was nothing else, and there never seemed to be. The raven just wanted it all to end, but he didn't deserve that.

I made people suffer, this is my punishment.. He thought, feeling sadness for the blunt truth flowing through him. It's the least I can do. It's what I deserve.

Before more blood could drip onto the floor, a sharp knock jerked him from his reprieve. He lifted his head up, red eyes wide with fear, heart beating a mile a minute. Who was at his home? Had Shizuo found him? Was this the end?!

Izaya remained frozen, desperately hoping the person would go away. But after a few seconds passed, the knocking happened again. His body started shaking again, but he forced himself to push on the wheels of his chair, moving towards where he heard the noise.

"I'll just tell them to go away…" He whispered to himself,"A-and then I can be alone again…"

He slowly rolled forward, until he could see the door which the knocking was behind. With a slow, shaking hand, he slid the door open a tiny crack, wincing at the bright light of the morning sun. When his vision adapted, he instantly looked for the source of the knocking.

Instead of the bringer of death he expected, he saw a small, thin looking woman with a wrinkled face, and black hair tinged with gray that was pulled back into a tight bun with a hairstick pushed in it. She was wearing a purple yukata with a lavender obi around it, and had a calm look on her face.

Thanks to Izaya's shuddering, she seemed to notice the door sliding open. "Oh, you're home?" She asked,"I was wondering if maybe I had come at a wrong time or not."

Izaya's throat seemed to completely dry out. He took a few frantic breaths, and croaked,"W-who…"

"I'm Ishi Ine, I live in the house with the farms nearby, so I am your neighbor" She firmly declared,"I heard that someone finally moved into this old house, and I decided to come and welcome you to the countryside."

The raven felt his shaking slow a bit, finally understanding why she was there. "W-well…" He slowly tried to continue, but forcing words out was difficult. "T-thank you, b-but… I.."

Ine was having none of it, and quickly said,"I'll only be a few minutes of your time, young man. I brought a gift, after all, wouldn't want it to go to waste."

Izaya felt his heart began to beat out of control, and he didn't have the strength to deny her. He let go of the door, pushing himself back the slightest bit to let her in. Ine let out a gentle thank you, and slid the door open further. When she turned to look back at Izaya, she let out a horrified gasp.

"What happened to your arm?!" She exclaimed, and Izaya jumped at the trill tone. He turned back to his pale, bloodied arms. In all honesty, he had forgotten about his arms. Ine didn't give him a chance to reply, she placed the container she was holding down, and stomped towards the kitchen.

Izaya watched her go, and nervously fiddled with his hands until he returned with a wet rag. She grabbed his arm, and began gently wiping off the blood from his arms. Despite the fact she was helping him, Izaya still couldn't stop his arms from shaking.

When she was finished, she huffed again. "Look how pale your skin is! You need to let some light in here!" Ine declared, her voice growing stern. "And look at how scrawny your arms are! Why aren't you eating!?"

She picked up the container, dropping it in his lap. "Eat," She ordered, before stomping over to the shoji doors and beginning to open them. The raven watched her for a moment, feeling rather stunned at the several things that seemed to occur in a blur.

Izaya lifted the top off the container, seeing some sweet looking mochi underneath. He picked one up, and nibbled on it slightly. Despite the growling of his stomach, he had no real appetite still.

Even though the clouds hid the sky, light now flowed through the whole house. Ine returned, standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. "You know, you never gave me your name, young man," She mentioned.

"Oh… It's Orihara I-Izaya…"

"Izaya, hm?" She repeated,"Quite a unique name. I haven't heard that one before."

The raven ducked his head, unsure of how to feel still. They stayed silent for several moments, until Izaya finally managed to work up a small amount of courage. "T-thank you… For the… T-the.." He whispered, his nerves catching up with him again as he began to scratch at his arm again.

Ine's arm shot out, grabbing his wrist and stopping him. The steel had melted away, and there was obvious worry in her eyes. No there isn't The dark voice sneered. She just wants to find an excuse to leave. Who would care about a cripple like you?

Instead of snapping again, Ine let go of his skinny arm and moved behind his wheelchair. When he began to move forward, a frantic whimper escaping his mouth. But Ine kept moving forward, and pushed him onto the raised porch.

The raven tensed, shutting his eyes in fear, and waiting for the pain to come… But nothing happened. He slowly opened his eyes, and found himself overcome with green. There was a gentle breeze that flowed through his hair, and swayed the trees around. There was the gentle sound of birds and wind flowing through the grass. It was so much different than what he was used to.

In fact… It was very peaceful.

Izaya turned his tired eyes towards Ine, who had come to stand next to him. She had her hands against her heart, eyes closed, and just listening. She pulled in a deep breath, and exhaled, shoulders lowering.

"You know," The old woman began,"I have lived out in the countryside for over thirty years, but I'll never grow tired of its beauty."

Ine didn't look at Izaya for a response, she just continued to listen to the beauty of nature. Izaya stared at her for several seconds, before turning back to the scenery around them. There was no violence, no honking cars, the chaos of Ikebukuro was nowhere to be found.

Despite the fear still in the back of his mind, he wasn't shaking, he wasn't afraid. For the first time in two weeks, he felt relaxed. The raven's tense body began to unwind, and he let his eyes close, simply enjoying what his new home had to offer.

I think… That I could get used to this.